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From the second to the fifteenth century

A second, small lighthouse or rather beacon has been assigned to the reign of Trajan (see Harbour of Trajan, nr. 8). It was erected between the harbour basins of Claudius and Trajan, to the north of the channel that connected them, on the west end of a short internal mole. The original structure had a rectangular plan, with the long side (21.80 meters) facing west. Waves could pass through holes in the base. High up there was some sort of balcony supported by travertine consoles. In the third or fourth century the structure was enveloped by another wall and restored. This interior beacon seems to be depicted on the Tabula Peutingeriana.

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The lighthouse on the Tabula Peutingeriana, with a second lighthouse or beacon behind and to the right.

The Claudian lighthouse seems to have been restored by Antoninus Pius. The Historia Augusta ascribes to him a Phari restitutio (SHA 8, 2-3). It is mentioned in a list of work that took place in Italy only, which suggests that the lighthouse of Portus is meant, not the one in Alexandria.



A lead token with a depiction of the lighthouse and the text ANT.
Diameter 22 mm. Private collection.

In the years 337-340 AD Lucius Crepereius Madalianus is consul(aris) molium phari at(que) purgaturae, so responsible for the maintenance of the moles and the lighthouse, and for dredging in the harbour. This function is not documented otherwise and it has been suggested that it was a special appointment (but arguing from silence is tricky, in view of the relatively small number of inscriptions from Portus pertaining to the administration). Here is what we read in the inscription, which was found near Trajan's hexagonal basin by Guido Calza:

FIDE EXERCITATIONEM
BONITATI POLLENTI LVCIO
CREPEREIO MADALIANO V(iro) C(larissimo)
PRAEF(ecto) ANN(onae) CVM IVRE GLADII
COMITI FLAVIALI CORR(ectori) FLAM(iniae)
ET PICENI LEG(ato) PRO PRAETORE PROV(inciae)
ASIAE LEG(ato) PROV(inciae) AFRICAE CONSVLA(ri)
AED(ium) SACRAR(um) CONSVL(ari) MOLIVM PHARI
AT(que) PVRGATVRAE QUAEST(ori) CANDID(ato)
PRAET(ori) CONSVLI OB MVLTA IN SE EIVS
TESTIMONIA ORDO ET POPVLVS (civitatis)
FL(aviae) CONSTANTINIANAE PORTVENSES
STATVAM PVBLICAE PONENDVM CENSVERVNT
 To a man disciplined by faith,
powerful in excellence, Lucius
Crepereius Madalianus, of clarissimus rank,
prefect of the annona with jurisdiction over capital sentences,
Flavian count, governor of Flaminia
and Picenum, legate representing the praetor of the province
of Asia, legate of the province of Africa, supervisor
of sacred buildings, supervisor of the moles, of the lighthouse,
and of the dredging, quaestor,
praetor, suffect consul. On account of the many
proofs of his affection for it, the council and people
of Flavia Constantiniana, of Portus,
decreed that a statue be set up with its own funds.
EDR073004; Last Statues of Antiquity 1660. Photo: Thylander 1952, pl. 132.2.

The Codex Theodosianus mentions the lighthouse in 365 AD:

Hoc autem excepto a Tarracinensis praestationis canone suggera [corrupt text], quae vetusto praeberi fari ac portus usibus more consuevit. Moreover, this exception shall be made from the regular tax of the payment of Terracina which is customarily assigned, according to ancient usage, to the requirements of the lighthouse and the Port.
Codex Theodosianus XIV.6.3.

Then the ancient sources fall silent. Documents from 1018 and 1206 mention the turre Cocuzina and turris Cucuzzute, possibly the lighthouse. In the Passio of Saint Nympha, which may have been written in the 10th or 11th century, we read:

Quibus introductis in navem facta est tranquillitas magna, et sic venerunt ad Portum Romanum ubi dicitur ad Farum. After they had boarded the ship there was a great calm of the sea, and thus they arrived at the Roman Port, at the place called Farus.
Passio S. Nymphae, Acta Sanctorum, November, IV, 373-379, par. 7.

Farus is of course the lighthouse of Claudius. On August 25, 1190 Richard Coeur de Lion visited Ostia, and upon his arrival saw the remains of the lighthouse, without realizing that the place had received its name, Far de Rume, from the tower:

Praeteriit ... locum dictum Le Far de Rume. Et postea intravit Tyberim; ad cuius introitum est turris pulcerrima sed solitaria. Et sunt ibi ruine maxime murorum antiquorum. He passed ... a place called Le Far de Rume. And after that he entered the mouth of the Tiber, at the entrance of which is a very beautiful but solitary tower. And over there are extensive ruins of ancient walls.
Roger of Howden, Monumenta Germaniae Historica SS.XXVII (ed. Pertz, pp. 114-115).

Remains of the lighthouse could still be seen in the 15th century. In the book De Roma instaurata, written 1444-1446, Flavio Biondo wrote: "We can see a good part of this tower standing to this day, except that the marble with which it was lined has been removed" ("Di questa torre ne veggiamo, insino ad hoggi una buona parte in pie, se non che ne sono stati tolti i marmi, de quali ella era incrustata"; translation from the Latin by Lucio Fauno, Venezia 1558, 41). Note that according to Flavio Biondo the tower was decorated with marble.

In his Commentaria rerum memorabilium, Pius II Piccolomini wrote, in May 1463: "There are still traces of this tower which can be seen at a great distance in the sea" ("Turris adhuc extant vestigia, quae procul in mari cernuntur"; edition Frankfurt 1614, 301).

In 1483 Sixtus IV (Francesco della Rovere) visited Portus "where you can still see the very old walls of the city of Portus, very ruined, and the tower of the Pharos, so much so that it still retains the same name today" ("dove si vedono ancora i muri vetustissimi della città di Porto, molto diruti, e la torre del Faro, tanto che ancora oggi essa conserva lo stesso nome"; Iacopo Gherardi, Il Diario di Roma, in L.A. Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, vol. 23, part 3, 3-4).

After 1483 there are no further references to the lighthouse. Presumably the last remains were demolished soon afterwards.



The nickname of the campanile of San Paolo fuori Le Mura, built in 1860, is "il faro". The model for it was the lighthouse of Portus.
Photo: Wikimedia, Fczarnowski.