Struck by lightning

In 409 AD Alaric with Goths captured Portus, as recounted by the historian Zosimus:

Meanwhile in Italy, when Alaric neither gained peace on the terms he proposed nor received any hostages, he again attacked Rome and threatened to storm the city if the citizens would not join him against the emperor Honorius. And when they hesitated over his demand, he besieged the city and, going down to the harbour, persisted in the siege for a few days until he finally captured it. Finding all the city's provisions stored there, he threatened to distribute them among his own army unless the Romans promptly did as he ordered. An assembly of the whole senate acceded to all Alaric's demands; for death was inevitable when no provisions could be brought to the city from the port.

The siege is also mentioned by Philostorgius, author of a History of the Church:

Alaric accordingly seized the port of the City without delay. This was the largest arsenal of the Romans, consisting of three ports, and stretching out till they equalled a small city in magnitude: the whole of the state's grain supply was stored up here according to ancient custom.

In 455 AD Gaeseric and the Vandals sacked Portus. This has been deduced from an inscription (disappeared) that was found on the Isola Sacra. It informs us that the Vandals burned a church of a martyr, presumably the basilica of Saint Hippolytus. Perhaps they also plundered Ostia. Petrus, bishop of Portus, restored the church.

The fury of the Vandals burned down the hall of this martyr, which bishop Petrus renovated with greater refinement.

Destruction, a painting by Thomas Cole, 1836. Photo: Wikimedia, Explore Thomas Cole.

In 474 AD Portus features in a struggle over the Imperial throne. It was written down by Marcellinus Comes, a chronicler of the sixth century, and in the so-called Excerpta Valesiana, a compilation of two anonymous chronicles:

While holding power at Rome Glycerius Caesar was expelled from the Empire by Nepos, the son of the sister of the former patrician Marcellinus; he was made a bishop [of Salonae] instead of Caesar at the harbour of the city of Rome and died. Now during the reign of Zeno Augustus at Constantinople, the patrician Nepos came to the Port of the city of Rome [after having crossed the Adriatic Sea], deposed Glycerius, who was made a bishop, while Nepos himself became emperor at Rome.

The volume of the import was small by now. Sidonius Apollinaris, when he was Praefectus Urbi in 488 AD, wrote:

I am afraid that the theatre crowd will raise the cry of famine and blame me for the shortage. In fact I am preparing to send the Praefectus Annonae down at once to the harbour, because I have just heard that five ships from Brundisium with cargoes of wheat and honey have reached the Tiber mouth.

The middle of the sixth century was marked by the long Gothic war, which lasted from 535 to 554 AD. It was described in great detail by Procopius. In 537 AD Belisarius, general of Emperor Justinian, defended Rome. Vitigis, king of the Ostrogoths, decided to lay siege to Rome and Portus. Procopius begins with a description of the harbours:

Vitigis, seeing that the enemy were enjoying a large degree of freedom, not only in taking out of Rome whatever they wished, but also in bringing in provisions both by land and by sea, decided to seize the harbour, which the Romans call Portus. This harbour is distant from the city one hundred and twenty-six stades; for Rome lacks only so much of being on the sea; and it is situated where the Tiber river has its mouth. Now as the Tiber flows down from Rome, and reaches a point rather near the sea, about fifteen stades from it, the stream divides into two parts and makes there the Sacred Island, as it is called. As the river flows on, the island becomes wider, so that the measure of its breadth corresponds to its length, for the two streams have between them a distance of fifteen stades; and the Tiber remains navigable on both sides. Now the portion of the river on the right empties into the harbour, and beyond the mouth the Romans in ancient times built on the shore a city, which is surrounded by an exceedingly strong wall; and it is called, like the harbour, Portus. But on the left, at the point where the other part of the Tiber empties into the sea, is situated the city of Ostia, lying beyond the place where the river-bank ends, a place of great consequence in olden times, but now entirely without walls. Moreover, the Romans at the very beginning made a road leading from Portus to Rome, which was smooth and presented no dificulty of any kind. And many barges are always anchored in the harbour ready for service, and no small number of oxen stand in readiness close by. Now when the merchants reach the harbour with their ships, they unload their cargoes and place them in the barges, and sail by way of the Tiber to Rome; but they do not use sails or oars at all, for the boats cannot be propelled in the stream by any wind since the river winds about exceedingly and does not follow a straight course, nor can oars be employed, either, since the force of the current is always against them. Instead of using such means, therefore, they fasten ropes from the barges to the necks of oxen, and so draw them just like waggons up to Rome. But on the other side of the river, as one goes from the city of Ostia to Rome, the road is shut in by woods and in general lies neglected, and it is not even near the bank of the Tiber, since there is no towing of barges on that road.

The Goths captured Portus and killed many of its inhabitants:

So the Goths, finding the city at the harbour unguarded, captured it at the first onset and slew many of the Romans who lived there, and so took possession of the harbour as well as the city. And they established a thousand of their number there as guards, while the remainder returned to the camps. In consequence of this move it was impossible for the besieged to bring in the goods which came by sea, except by way of Ostia, a route which naturally involved great labour and danger besides. For the Roman ships were not even able to put in there any longer, but they anchored at Antium, a day's journey distant from Ostia. And they found great difficulty in carrying the cargoes thence to Rome, the reason for this being the scarcity of men. For Belisarius, fearing for the fortifications of Rome, had been unable to strengthen the harbour with any garrison at all, though I think that even if three hundred men had been on guard there, the barbarians would never have made an attempt on the place, which is exceedingly strong.

Emperor Justinianus and his suite. Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna. Photo: Wikimedia, Roger Culos.

Belisarius was then helped by auxiliary forces: a fleet of Isaurians, from Asia Minor, and troops led by a commander named John. While the Goths were in Portus, they occupied Ostia:

Meanwhile the fleet of the Isaurians put in at the harbour of the Romans [Ostia] and John with his men came to Ostia, and not one of the enemy hindered them, either while bringing their ships to land or while making their camp. But in order that they might be able to pass the night safe from a sudden attack by the enemy, the Isaurians dug a deep trench close to the harbour and kept a constant guard by shifts of men, while John's soldiers made a barricade of their waggons about the camp and remained quiet. And when night came on Belisarius went to Ostia with a hundred horsemen, and after telling what had taken place in the engagement and the agreement which had been made between the Romans and the Goths and otherwise encouraging them, he bade them bring their cargoes and come with all zeal to Rome. "For," he said, "I shall take care that the journey is free from danger". So he himself at early dawn rode back to the city, and Antonina together with the commanders began at daybreak to consider means of transporting the cargoes. But it seemed to them that the task was a hard one and beset with the greatest difficulties. For the oxen could hold out no longer, but all lay half-dead, and, furthermore, it was dangerous to travel over a rather narrow road with the waggons, and impossible to tow the barges on the river, as had formerly been the custom. For the road which is on the left of the river was held by the enemy, as stated by me in the previous narrative, and not available for the use of the Romans at that time, while the road on the other side of it is altogether unused, at least that part of it which follows the river-bank. They therefore selected the small boats belonging to the larger ships, put a fence of high planks around them on all sides, in order that the men on board might not be exposed to the enemy's shots, and embarked archers and sailors on them in numbers suitable for each boat. And after they had loaded the boats with all the freight they could carry, they waited for a favouring wind and set sail toward Rome by the Tiber, and a portion of the army followed them along the right bank of the river to support them. But they left a large number of Isaurians to guard the ships. Now where the course of the river was straight, they found no trouble in sailing, simply raising the sails of the boats; but where the stream wound about and took a course athwart the wind, and the sails received no impulse from it, the sailors had no slight toil in rowing and forcing the boats against the current. As for the barbarians, they sat in their camps and had no wish to hinder their enemy, either because they were terrified at the danger, or because they thought that the Romans would never by such means succeed in bringing in any provisions, and considered it contrary to their own interest, when a matter of no consequence was involved, to frustrate their hope of the armistice which Belisarius had already promised. Moreover, the Goths who were in Portus, though they could see their enemy constantly sailing by almost near enough to touch, made no move against them, but sat there wondering in amazement at the plan they had hit upon. And when the Romans had made the voyage up the river many times in the same way, and had thus conveyed all the cargoes into the city without interference, the sailors took the ships and withdrew with all speed, for it was already about the time of the winter solstice; and the rest of the army entered Rome, except, indeed, that Paulus remained in Ostia with some of the Isaurians.

Eventually problems with the supplies made the Goths leave, so that Portus could be retaken:

The Goths who were holding the stronghold at Portus abandoned the place by the order of Vitigis because their supplies were exhausted, and came to the camp in obedience to his summons. Whereupon Paulus with his Isaurians came from Ostia and took possession of it and held it. Now the chief reason why these barbarians were without provisions was that the Romans commanded the sea and did not allow any of the necessary supplies to be brought in to them. And it was for this reason that they also abandoned at about the same time a sea-coast city of great importance, Centumcellae by name, that is, because they were short of provisions. This city is large and populous, lying to the west of Rome, in Tuscany, distant from it about two hundred and eighty stades. And after taking possession of it, the Romans went on and extended their power still more, for they took also the town of Albani, which lies to the east of Rome, the enemy having evacuated it at that time for the same reason, and they had already surrounded the barbarians on all sides and now held them between their forces. The Goths, therefore, were in a mood to break the agreement and do some harm to the Romans. So they sent envoys to Belisarius and asserted that they had been unjustly treated during a truce; for when Vitigis had summoned the Goths who were in Portus to perform some service for him, Paulus and the Isaurians had seized and taken possession of the fort there for no good reason. And they made this same false charge regarding Albani and Centumcellae, and threatened that, unless he should give these places back to them, they would resent it. But Belisarius laughed and sent them away, saying that this charge was but a pretext, and that no one was ignorant of the reason why the Goths had abandoned these places.

In this period (537-538 AD) Cassiodorus, Latin secretary to Theodoric, wrote down - in a rather pedantic way - instructions for two officials in Portus: the Comes was responsible for the incoming ships, the Vicarius had police tasks. Abbreviated translations:

Rules for the Comes Portus It is a service of pleasure rather than of toil to hold the dignity of Comes in the harbour of the City of Rome, to look forth upon the wide sail-traversed main, to see the commerce of all the Provinces tending towards Rome, and to welcome travellers arriving with the joy of ended peril. Excellent thought of the men of old to provide two channels by which strangers might enter the Tiber, and to adorn them with those two stately cities [Portus and Ostia], which shine like lights upon the watery way! Do you therefore, by your fair administration, make it easy for strangers to enter. Do not grasp at more than the lawful dues; for the greedy hand closes a harbour, and extortion is as much dreaded by mariners as adverse winds. Receive then for this Indiction the Comitiva Portus; enjoy the pleasures of the office, and lay it down with increased reputation. Rules for the Vicarius Portus Great prudence is necessary in your office, since discords easily arise between two nationalities. Therefore you must use skill to soothe those [the Greek merchants and sailors?] whose characters are unstable as the winds, and who, unless you bring their minds into a state of calm, will, with their natural quickness of temper, fly out into the extremity of insolence.

Theodoric sitting opposite Cassiodorus. From a 12th-century manuscript in Leiden University Library. Images: Wikimedia, Dbachmann.

The war was revived by Totila, the new king of the Ostrogoths who had succeeded Vitigis. Belisarius was once more in charge of the defense of the besieged Rome. In 546 AD he instructed Phocas to occupy Portus:

While the emperor was taking such measures as have been described, Belisarius on his part sent an army to the harbour of Rome under command of Valentinus and one of his own bodyguards, Phocas by name, an exceptionally able warrior, with instructions to join the garrison in Portus, which was commanded by Innocentius, and to assist them in guarding that fortress; and wherever they found it possible, they were to make excursions and harass the enemy's camp. Consequently, Valentinus and Phocas secretly sent a messenger into Rome bearing the intelligence to Bessas that they were at that moment about to make a sudden attack upon the stockade of their opponents; he should, therefore, on his part, select the most warlike of the soldiers in Rome, and, whenever he observed their assault, rush to their assistance, so that each of the two forces might be able to inflict some great injury upon the barbarians. Bessas, however, was by no means taken with this plan, notwithstanding the fact that he had as many as three thousand soldiers under him. Thus it was that Valentinus and Phocas with a force of five hundred descended unexpectedly upon the enemy's camp and killed a few men, and the tumult occasioned thereby soon reached the ears of the besieged. But seeing that no one came out from the city against the camp, they quickly retired to the harbour without suffering any loss. So they sent to Bessas a second time, and first charging him with having had a regrettable attack of timidity, they declared that they would soon make another assault upon the enemy and urged that he too should fall upon the barbarians with all his strength at the proper moment. Bessas, however, still refused to make a sally against his opponents and risk a battle. Still Valentinus and Phocas were purposing to assail the enemy in larger force and had already made their preparations. But a certain soldier of Innocentius' command went as a deserter to Totila and carried the news that on the following day there would be an attack upon them from Portus. So Totila decided to fill with ambuscades of soldiers all the places which were adapted for this purpose. On the following day, therefore, Valentinus and Phocas fell into these ambuscades, and not only lost the most of their men, but were also killed themselves. And only a small handful made their escape with difficulty and betook themselves to Portus.

This chapter in the struggle ended with a fatal misunderstanding:

It was at this time that Vigilius, the chief priest of Rome, who was then sojourning in Sicily, filled with grain as many ships as he could and sent them off, thinking that in some way or other those who were conveying the cargoes would be able to get into Rome. So these ships were sailing toward the Roman harbour, but the enemy spied them and got to the harbour a short time before the ships arrived; there they concealed themselves inside the walls, their purpose being that, as soon as the ships should come to the land there, they might capture them with no difficulty. And when all the men keeping guard in Portus observed this, they went up to the battlement, every man of them, and by waving their cloaks strove to signal the men on the ships not to come ahead, but to turn aside and go elsewhere - anywhere in fact, where chance might lead them. But the men on the ships failed to comprehend what they were doing, supposing that the Romans in Portus were rejoicing and inviting them to the harbour, and since they had a favouring wind they quickly got inside the harbour. Now there were many Romans on board the ships, and among them a certain bishop named Valentinus. Then the barbarians arose from their hiding place and took possession of all the boats without encountering any resistance. And as for the bishop, they took him prisoner and led him before Totila, but all the rest they killed, and drawing the boats up on shore with their cargoes still in them, they departed. And Totila made such enquiries of this priest as he wished, and then accused him of not telling the truth in any respect and so cut off both his hands. Such was the course of these events. And the winter drew to a close, and the eleventh year ended in this war, the history of which Procopius has written.

Totila then decided to create a blockade between Rome and Portus:

Totila devised the following structure on the Tiber. Observing a place where the river flows in a very narrow channel, about ninety stades distant from the city, he placed very long timbers, reaching from one bank to the other, so as to form a bridge at that point. Then he constructed two wooden towers, one on either bank, and placed in each one a garrison of warlike men, so that it might be no longer possible for boats of any kind whatever to make their way up from Portus and so enter the city. Meanwhile Belisarius, on his part, landed at the harbour of Rome, while John with his army was remaining where he was. Belisarius, therefore, dreading that the besieged would do something desperate because of the lack of provisions, began to make plans to convey his supplies into Rome by some means or other. And since he plainly had no force sufficient to pit against the enemy, so that he could fight a decisive battle with them in the plain, he first arranged the following plan. He chose two skiffs of very unusual breadth and, after fastening them together and lashing them very firmly to one another, constructed a wooden tower upon them, making it much higher than those made by the enemy at their bridge. For he had previously had them accurately measured by sending some of his men, who, as it was made to appear, were going over to the barbarians as deserters. Next he built wooden walls upon two hundred swift-sailing boats and launched them in the Tiber, having caused openings to be made in all parts of the wooden walls, in order that his men might be able to shoot at the enemy through them. Finally he loaded grain and many other kinds of provisions on these boats and manned them with his most warlike soldiers. He also stationed other troops, both infantry and cavalry, on either side of the river in certain strong positions near the mouth of the Tiber, commanding them to remain at their posts and, if any of the enemy should threaten Portus, to prevent them with all their strength. But he stationed Isaac inside Portus, and it was to him that he entrusted both the city and his wife and whatever else he happened to possess there. And he directed him in no circumstances to go away from the city, not even if he learned that Belisarius had perished at the hand of the enemy, but to maintain a close and constant guard, so that, if any reverse should befall the Romans, they might have a place where they could take refuge and save themselves. For they held no other stronghold at all in that region, but the whole country in every direction was hostile to them. The Romans then began to destroy the bridge and were ready, after wrecking it in a twinkling, to go ahead and proceed into Rome with no further opposition. But, since this was not the will of fortune, some envious spirit interposed and contrived to ruin the cause of the Romans.

Dutch ships breaking a chain protecting a harbour ("Siege of Damietta"). Painting by Cornelis Claesz. van Wieringen, ca. 1625. Photo: Wikimedia, Mcke.

The attack failed when one of the commanders did not follow the orders of Belisarius. On December 17th 546 AD Rome was taken and Totila decided to demolish it. Belisarius, recovering from illness in Portus, sent him a letter:

"While the creation of beauty in a city which has not been beautiful before could only proceed from men of wisdom who understand the meaning of civilization, the destruction of beauty which already exists would be naturally expected only of men who lack understanding, and who are not ashamed to leave to posterity this token of their character. Now among all the cities under the sun Rome is agreed to be the greatest and the most noteworthy. For it has not been created by the ability of one man, nor has it attained such greatness and beauty by a power of short duration, but a multitude of monarchs, many companies of the best men, a great lapse of time, and an extraordinary abundance of wealth have availed to bring together in that city all other things that are in the whole world, and skilled workers besides. Thus, little by little, have they built the city, such as you behold it, thereby leaving to future generations memorials of the ability of them all, so that insult to these monuments would properly be considered a great crime against the men of all time; for by such action the men of former generations are robbed of the memorials of their ability, and future generations of the sight of their works. Such, then, being the facts of the case, be well assured of this, that one of two things must necessarily take place: either you will be defeated by the emperor in this struggle, or, should it so fall out, you will triumph over him. Now, in the first place, supposing you are victorious, if you should dismantle Rome, you would not have destroyed the possession of some other man, but your own city, excellent Sir, and, on the other hand, if you preserve it, you will naturally enrich yourself by a possession the fairest of all; but if, in the second place, it should perchance fall to your lot to experience the worse fortune, in saving Rome you would be assured of abundant gratitude on the part of the victor, but by destroying the city you will make it certain that no plea for mercy will any longer be left to you, and in addition to this you will have reaped no benefit from the deed. Furthermore, a reputation that corresponds with your conduct will be your portion among all men, and it stands waiting for you according as you decide either way. For the quality of the acts of rulers determines, of necessity, the quality of the repute which they win from their acts." Such was the letter of Belisarius. And Totila, after reading it over many times and coming to realize accurately the significance of the advice, was convinced and did Rome no further harm.

Desolation, a painting by Thomas Cole, 1836. Photo: Wikimedia, Explore Thomas Cole.

Writing in the fourth century, Iulius Obsequens recorded this portent from 130 BC:

In Ostia a wolf and a dog that were fighting were killed by a bolt of lightning.