Commerce and administration
Only two Ostian inscriptions from the fourth and fifth century with a commercial character have been preserved (see the overview of inscriptions, below). One belongs to the early reign of Constantine. It was set up by skippers who transported commodities on what they call the lower Tiber, between Ostia and Rome:
RESTITVTORI PVBLICAE
LIBERTATIS DEFENSORI
VRBIS ROMAE COMMVNIS
OMNIVM SALVTIS AVCTORI
D(omino) N(ostro) IMP(eratori) FL(avio) VAL(erio) CONSTANTINO
PIO FELICI INVICTO SEMPER AVG(usto)
CODICARII NABICVLARI
INFERNATES DEVOTI N(umini) M(aiestati)Q(ue) EIVS
CVRANTE AVR(elio) VICTORIANO V(iro) P(erfectissimo)
PRAEF(ecto) ANN(onae)To the restorer of public
freedom, defender
of the City of Rome, of the general
common welfare founder,
our lord Emperor Flavius Valerius Constantinus,
pious, happy, unconquered, forever Augustus.
The skippers of tow-boats
on the lower Tiber, devoted to his divine will and greatness.
Under the care of Aurelius Victorianus, most excellent man,
prefect of the annona.EDR122141; CIL XIV, 131. Marble base. 312-324 (date based on the title invictus).
Found in Ostia near the Tiber in 1589, once in Rome, today disappeared. For infernates see G. Henzen 1851, 162.The second inscription is a century later, and documents a restoration of the macellum, the fish- and meat market, by a Praefectus Urbi in the years 418-420 AD. The masonry of the east and south wall of its courtyard has indeed characteristics of the period 375-425 AD.
Of great importance must also have been the redirecting of the Alexandrian grain fleet to Constantinople around 332 AD (perhaps already around 308 AD the Alexandrian grain was no longer transported to Rome, but to armies).
Does the almost total absence of commercial inscriptions indicate that the focus of import for Rome had shifted to Portus? A comparison with Portus is difficult, because there, so far, very few non-funerary inscriptions have emerged. However, in an inscription from the years 337-345 AD, Lucius Crepereius Madalianus is described as consularis molium fari atque purgaturae, so responsible for the moles, lighthouse, and dredging operations in Portus (EDR073004). One inscription, from the second half of the fourth century, seems to mention a guild in Portus: [--- cor]PVS POR[t---] (EDR136065). The situation becomes much clearer when we look at a whole series of relevant laws from the fourth and early fifth century in the Codex Theodosianus, the last one from 417 AD. The only text in the Codex that mentions Ostia is from 398 AD, fixing the price of the enigmatic panis Ostiensis, "Ostian bread", but the texts provide ample evidence for importing and storing goods in Portus.
Idem AA. ad Symmachum. Horrea fiscalia
apud urbem Romam nec non etiam
Portus in usus translata privatos
cognovimus. Haec ad pristinum [statum restituere curabis]. In-
feriorib(us) horreorum frumenta con-
dantur, quae natura loci et umore
vitiantur. Annonas quoq(ue) horreis
antiquitus deputatas hos rethi-
bere conpelles, qui eas in damna pu-
blica ausi sunt occupare, quarum
substantiam entichae populi ro-
mani proficere precipies. Sane quos
inveniens fabricarum destructio-
nis auctores, ad reparationem ne-
cessario tenebis. Dat. VI id. iun. Na-
isso divo Ioviano et Varroniano conss.The same Augustuses to Symmachus. We have learned that fiscal storehouses
in the City of Rome and also in the
Port have been converted to private uses.
You shall take care to restore such storehouses to their former condition.
Grain must not be stored in the lower stories of such storehouses,
for it is spoiled by the nature of the place and the moisture.
If any persons, to the public detriment,
have dared to appropriate the food supplies
that were anciently assigned to the storehouses,
you shall compel them to restore them, and you shall direct
that the substance of such supplies shall go to the benefit
of the treasury of the people of Rome. Of course,
you shall compel those persons whom you find to be authors
of the destruction of buildings to make necessary restoration.
Given on the sixth day before the ides of June at Nish
in the year of the consulship of the sainted Jovian and of Varronianus.Law on the Imperial warehouses in Rome and Portus. Codex Theodosianus 15.1.12. Dated June 8, 364 AD. Issued in Nish.
Manuscript from the sixth century. Image: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Reg. Lat. 886. Translation Clyde Pharr.As to buildings related to the seaborne commerce: building activity in the Ostian warehouses had come to a halt, no masonry can be assigned to the fourth and fifth century. But Ostia was not left to its fate. This is particularly clear from the presence of the prefect of the annona (food supply), under whose authority Ostia now fell. Building activities were initiated by him or, when ascribed to Emperors, carried out by him. On the other hand, there is a sharp contrast to the past. We hear virtually nothing about the city council. In a few inscriptions the ordo and the people of Ostia are merely "shining through", so to speak. We hear nothing about guilds and local dignitaries. It seems to be all about the Emperor, Rome and leisure in the baths.
[---oru]M INVICTISSIMORVM
[--- prae]FECT[us] ANNONAE AETERNAE VRBIS
[--- dedi]CAVITQVEInscription found in 1913 in the ruins along the Decumanus, near Ninfeo II,IX,1.
Later third or fourth century. EDR072678; NSC 1913, 211.
Photo: Tonino Menghi.This piece of marble was used three times. A first inscription was erased and is now illegible.
A second inscription mentions invincible Emperors, a Praefectus Annonae of the Eternal City, and a dedication.
Two holes and a groove show that finally it was used as part of some building.After the crisis of the later third century and a long period of neglect, repairs were necessary. There also seems to have been continued seismic activity. Geological research in the north-west part of the city has led to the discovery of a sand layer half a meter thick, the result of a tsunami around 360 AD. But substantial repairs and new building activity did not take place in the houses and commercial premises of the middle and lower class. These buildings were often literally obstructed from view by blocking passages, thus creating long masonry facades. The area behind the facades was not completely abandoned, but there we do not find structural work, only makeshift repairs and modifications. Sometimes the investigators are helped by well-dated material, such as coins. In the House of the Infant Hercules for example two groups of coins were found. The first, of 110 pieces, ranges from Constantius to Theodosius. The second, of 896 pieces, was found near a broken amphora and ranges from Diocletianus to Theodosius, but also contained many coins of Joannes, usurper against Valentinian III in 423-425 AD.
An inscription on a statue base from the last decade of the fourth century, still to be seen on the forum, sums it all up:
TRANSLATAM EX SOR
DENTIBVS LOCIS
AD ORNATVM FORI
ET AD FACIEM PVBLICAM
CVRANTE P(ublio) ATTIO
CLEMENTINO V(iro) C(larissimo)
PRAEF(ecto) ANN(onae)Transferred from
sordid places,
to decorate the forum
and for the public appearance.
Under the care of Publius Attius
Clementinus, most illustrious man,
prefect of the food supply.The inscription on the forum. EDR072684. Photo: EDCS.
Appendix
Overview of (more or less) accurately dated, non-funerary inscriptions from Ostia (not Portus), from 306 AD.
Years
From
Object
Contents
EAGLE ID
307-310
Ostia, forum near the Temple of Roma and Augustus
Marble base for equestrian statue
Statue of Manilius Rusticianus, praefectus annonae, set up by the ordo and people of Ostia
312-324
Ostia, near the Tiber
Marble base
Dedication to Constantine by the codicarii nabiculari infernates through Aurelius Victorianus, praefectus annonae
328-400
Ostia, near the Grandi Horrea (NSc 1919, 77-80)
Marble slab, inscribed on on both sides
Activity by Flavius Octavius, praefectus annonae, related to a depiction of the Nereid Glauce
331-370
Ostia, baths to the west of the Palazzo Imperiale
Lead water-pipe
Stamp with the names of Clodius Adelfius and Faltonia Proba
337-340
Ostia, reused in the Terme Bizantine
Marble slab
Dedication to Constans by Aurelius Avianius Symmachus, praĚŁefectus annonae
337-350
Ostia, latrine of the Caseggiato dei Triclini
Marble slab
Dedication to Divus Constantinus
340-350
Ostia
Unknown
Restoration of a building (baths?) by Constantius II and Constans through a praefectus annonae
351-400
Ostia, Terme del Foro
Marble slab
Restoration of baths (the Terme del Foro) through a praefectus annonae
353-355
Ostia
Marble base
Dedication to Constantius II by Memmius Vitrasius Orfitus, praefectus Urbi
360-363
Ostia, Horrea Epagathiana et Epaphroditiana
Marble slab
Dedication to Julianus by Flavius Esychius, praefectus annonae
366-402
Ostia, campus of the Magna Mater
Statue of Dionysus
Dedication by Volusianus who is tauroboliatus
367-392
Ostia
Marble slab
Dedication to Valentinianus I, Valens and Gratianus or Valentinianus II, Theodosius I and Arcadius
371-450
Ostia
Marble slab
Might mention a corrector
375-378
Ostia, Terme di Porta Marina
Marble architrave
Restoration of the Thermae Maritimae by Valens, Gratianus and Valentinianus I through Proculus Gregorius, praefectus annonae
383-392
Ostia, in front of the area of the Quattro Tempietti
Marble architrave
Building activity dedicated to Valentinianus II, Theodosius I and Arcadius by Herculius, praefectus annonae
383-392
Decumanus, near Via dei Molini
Marble slab
Dedication to Valentinianus II, Theodosius I, Arcadius and Maximus by a praefectus annonae
383-392
Ostia, in and in front of the theatre
Marble slab
Dedication to Valentinianus II, Theodosius I and Arcadius
384-388
Ostia, theatre
Marble slab
Possibly a dedication to Magnus Maximus and Flavius Victor
385
Ostia, on the eastern side of the Forum
Marble base
Work by Ragonius Vincentius Celsus, praefectus annonae, and the city
385
Ostia, Terme del Foro and Exedra I,XII,3
Marble architrave
Work by Ragonius Vincentius Celsus, praefectus annonae, and the city
385-389
Ostia
Marble base
Work by Ragonius Vincentius Celsus, praefectus annonae, and the city
385-389
Ostia, to the east of the theatre
Marble base
Statue of Roma set up by Ragonius Vincentius Celsus, praefectus annonae, using money of the city
387-388
Ostia, from the foundations of a building outside Porta Marina (not the Edificio con Opus Sectile, but to the north of it)
Marble slab
Dedication to Magnus Maximus and Flavius Victor
387-388
Ostia
Marble slab
Dedication to Magnus Maximus and Flavius Victor
387-388
Ostia, on the western Decumanus (1938)
Marble slab
Dedication to Magnus Maximus and Flavius Victor
389
Ostia
Marble base
Dedication to Ragonius Vincentius Celsus by the ordo and the city
390-400
Ostia, forum
Marble base
Transfer of a statue from sordid places to the forum by Publius Attius Clementinus, praefectus annonae
393-394
Ostia, Via Epagathiana
Marble architrave
Restoration of the cella of the Temple of Hercules by Numerius Proiectus, praefectus annonae, dedicated to Theodosius I, Arcadius and Eugenius
408-423
Ostia, in shops on the west side of the forum
Marble slab
Restoration by Flavius Nicius Theodulus, vicarius Urbis, dedicated to Honorius and Theodosius II
418-420
Ostia, on Via dei Molini and on the Decumanus between Via dei Molini and the forum
Marble slab
Restoration of the macellum by Aurelius Anicius Symmachus, praefectus Urbi
440-461
Ostia, from a drain below the Casone del Sale (the museum)
Ivory diptychon
By Modestus for (Libius?) Severus
471-500
Ostia, Basilica di Pianabella
Marble architrave
Building activity by bishop Bellator
