Arrival in Rome

When we look at the Tiber in Rome today, it is as if we see a deep-lying canal. In antiquity the situation was much different. The ancient city is buried below many later layers, and the modern level is sometimes five to ten meters higher. The embankments of the river were built in the late 19th and early 20th century. The raising was necessitated by recurrent floods.

A view of the Tiber in Rome. Photo: Wikimedia, Lalupa.

The main quays for the unloading of the tow boats arriving from Ostia and Portus were located in the south of Rome, on the east side of the Tiber. This was regio XIII, Aventinus. The quays coincide with the modern Lungotevere Testaccio. The area is often referred to as the Emporium ("major trading centre").

Reconstruction of the Emporium. Image: Atlas of Ancient Rome.

Parts of the quays were excavated on various occasions (in 1868-1870, 1919-1920, 1952, and 1979-1984). Much work had been done during the reigns of Claudius and Trajan. Travertine mooring blocks were found (some with sculpted boar heads) that are very similar to those found around the hexagon of Trajan in Portus. Ramps led from the riverbank to upper quays. Behind the quays were many large warehouses. A late-antique catalogue of buildings in Rome also mentions a Forum Pistorum, "Market-place of the Bakers". Fragments of the marble plan of Rome from the Severan period (the Forma Urbis) may show further warehouses on the opposite bank. Quays with mooring blocks and staircases were also found opposite the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls (in 1939-1940), on the west bank on the river. Here warehouses seem to be absent however.

The quays and mooring blocks of the Emporium on an old photo. Photo: American Academy Rome.