J - 226 : Roman Ports - Vital Nods in Roman Economy

The Roman Naval Base of Misenum 200 AD - the Italian Port of Miseno in 2022 AD

Over the last ten years, we visited many ancient ports. Some were silted like Miletus, Kaunos, Andriake or Patara . Others lost their purpose and were abandoned - Knidos, Fréjus, Kelenderis or Caesarea come to my mind. A few are still in use – such as Piraeus, Messina, Pozzuoli and Miseno. All these ports were part of Rome’s far-flung network that comprised 200 major and 3’000 minor ports. Many had break waters, jetties, quays, a light house and other sophisticated infrastructure needed for the thousands of cargo ships sailing on the Mare Nostrum. We had a glimpse into the organization of a Roman port when visiting Kelenderis (Turkish Aydincik) in 2018 where archeologist found a harbor mosaic at the entrance that reads like modern Google Map.

The Kelenderis Mosaic which we could visit personally in the Summer of 2018 in Turkyie

This year, on our way from Malta to the Bay of Naples, we will drop anchor in two Roman ports which have been consistently used over the centuries and survived - albeit now serving different roles. Messina and Miseno-Pozzuoli were luckyly sufficiently distant to a river with sediments. Other ports were less lucky and are located today one to two miles away from the coast. Messina and Miseno-Pozzuoli will thus give us a good idea how the Roman transportation system worked two thousand years ago.

The Port of Messina with its Sickle Shaped Jetty was founded by Greeks 2'600 years ago

Romes port network was of strategic nature. It was a critical link in the Empire’s long-distance trade economy. For the first time in history, division of labor was applied to bulky goods such as wine, olive oil, fish sauce, grain, timber, iron goods, textiles, brass and glass ware. Long-distance division of labor allowed each Roman province to focus on products they were specialized in and import anything else. It resulted in process efficiencies not seen before. Whilst Rome was not an industrial society, its slave labor (source of energy) powered large scale production such as steel or cement making. The result were sizeable productivity gains in every aspect of the economy which were not replicated again until the Renaissance a thousand years later.

The Port of Leptis Magna (Lybia) with Light House and Jetty and the Storage Sites (Horrae)

The Mediterranean port network was complemented by an equally large, river-based inland network where flat bottom barges shipped large quantities of goods up and down the rivers. Europe’s rivers were Rome’s highways. Well preserved remains of such flat-bottomed barges were found near Arles in the Rhone delta not too long ago. Similar barges were used to ship hundred thousands of tons of wheat from Ostia to Rome, silver mined in Andalusia downriver to Cadiz and large quantities of timber from Gaul to Italy to build palaces and temples.

This flat-bottomed Roman River Barge was found in 2004 near the French Town of Arles

Roman sea ports connected by roads and canals to their hinterland. They had large warehouses for storage and further distribution of goods, dry docks for repairs, custom offices to tax all items, a military garrisons for protection (larger ports had all dual function – commercial and military) and often an Imperial Palace. Roman Emperors travelled. There were specialized lawyers who documented the shipping and profit-sharing agreements between ship owners, captains and traders renting cargo space. Open spaces made it possible to pull ships out of water during winter time for caulking, repainting and repairs. There were docks for wooden planks, ribs and masts, to rig a vessel and for any type of rope that was needed. There were theatres and large bath complexes, roads full of tavernas and brothels, living quarters for the work force and the thousands of slaves who loaded and unloaded the cargo.

Schematic Depiction of a Roman Port - they were far more busy than this Painting shows

Tried to figure out how many people worked in a typical Mediterranean port but did not get far. Romans kept their commercial dealings on wax tablets which were recycled frequently – unlike the clay tablets from Mesopotamia which dried and preserved forever. Taking the average size of the many Roman ports we visited – most of them had around 20’000 inhabitants – makes 200 ports times 20’000 people = 4 million people or about 8% of the Empire’s total population. Whilst not a precise number, the magnitude seems about right.

The Roman Port of Fréjus (Forum Julia). The light house stands now in the Middle of a Field

A most valuable source for understanding Roman Ports is the book "De Architectura" from Vitruvius (25 BC) which describes in details where a port shall be located and how the jetties and the piers shall be constructed with hydrolic cement - which used volcanic ash from Pozzuoli, the final station of our tour this summer.

Caesarea, Herod's Port from where St Paul departed, was entirely built with Hydralic Cement

The fact alone that someone bothered to write a Manual on how to build a port illustrates how important these nods were for the Roman economy. Building ports was expensive though – it exceeded the financial means of the locals - ports were sponsored by Roman Emperors. More ports, more trade, more taxes. The equation was simple. Roman Emperors thus invested heavily – Augustus (Fréjus), Cladius (Ostia Phase I), Nero (Antium), Trajan (Ostia Phase II - the Hexagon) and Hadrian (several ports in the eastern Med) are the few that come to my mind without even searching.

Roman Ports - the Backbone of the Empire's vast Division of Labor & Economic Efficiency

Remains of Roman Ports - even when now landlocked - are easy to spot with a trained eye. Andriake, the port of Myra, is one of the best examples I came across. Turkish Authorities rebuilt one block of warehouses to give visitors a good idea how the port once looks. For people who do not have the time to travel to Southern Turkyie, a trip to Dover is sufficient. The Roman Light House still stands proud and tall amongst the walls of Dover Castle.

The Roman Light House in Dover Castle once guided Roman Ships over the Channel