Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Portus

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rich, Anthony (1849). The illustrated companion to the Latin dictionary, and Greek lexicon. p. vi. OCLC 894670115. https://archive.org/details/illustratedcompa00rich. 

PORTUS. A port or harbour for the shelter and reception of shipping; as a place of refuge against stress of weather or an enemy's fleet, as well as a dock for the lading and unlading of merchandize. The term likewise includes a natural haven, as well as an artificial basin, formed and fortified by human ingenuity and labour. The first of these needs no explanation; but the latter is of sufficient importance to demand some account of its general plan and manner of construction, as works of this kind occupy a prominent place amongst those labours of the ancients which were dedicated to public utility.

Both the Greeks and Romans appear to have laid out their ports upon the same general plan, with scarcely any difference in the details, as testified by numerous remains still to be seen in both countries. They consist of an outer basin (λιμήν of the Greeks) with one or more inner ones (Greek ὅρμος), connected by a water-way; and are mostly situated near the mouth of a river, or in a creek of the sea. The entrance to the harbour is protected by a break-water in advance of the mole, upon which stood a light house and towers of fortification, and chains or booms were upon emergency drawn across this entrance to prevent the ingress of a hostile fleet. The mole was constructed upon arches in order to counteract the natural tendency of artificial ports to fill themselves up by a deposit of sand or shingle, a sufficient calm being procured inside by means of flood-gates hanging from the piers. Moles so formed may be seen at Eleusis; are represented on Roman medals, Pompeian paintings, and the Vatican Virgil. Within the harbour was a broad way or quay supported by a wall of masonry, and backed by magazines for warehousing goods, a market place, the harbour-master's residence, and a temple, mostly dedicated to Venus, in allusion to the element from which that goddess is fabled to have sprung. Flights of stairs conducted from the quay to the water's edge; and columns were placed as mooring posts at regular intervals all round the port; or, instead of them, large rings (ansae) were affixed to the wall of the quay, each of which was regularly numbered, so that every vessel, as it entered, was compelled to take up its proper station. The whole of the buildings were furthermore enclosed by an outer wall and fortifications, admitting ingress from the land side through a gate strongly defended, like the entrance to a fortress. This description will be readily understood by an inspection of the following illustration (Portus/1.1), which exhibits a ground plan of the port of Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber, from a minute survey taken by the Venetian architect Labacco in the 16th century, when the remains were not so much dilapidated as they now are, nor the site itself so completely filled up with mud and deposits, which now conceal such vestiges as were then apparent. The outer and larger harbour was constructed by the Emperor Claudius; the inner and smaller basin by Trajan. A. The entrance gate from the land side, flanked by fortified towers. B. A temple. C. An aqueduct which supplied the port with fresh water. D. The residence of the harbour master, in a situation which commands a view of both ports. EF. Two bridges over a canal which communicates both with the Tiber and the sea, through the branch river on the top of the plan. It is likewise believed that the waterway under one, or perhaps both, of these bridges was closed by a floodgate. G. A large open square surrounded by magazines, and probably serving as a forum or market, and place of rendezvous for the merchants, and captains of vessels, &c. H. A small dock, also surrounded by storehouses, which from the narrowness of its entrance, and its position upon the canal leading into the branch river, appears to have been intended for the coasters and smaller trading vessels of the country. I. A breakwater against the entrance to the inner harbour. K. The breakwater which protected the mouth of the Claudian port. Vestiges of the custom houses and magazines all round the quay of the inner port and on the side adjacent to the branch river are indicated upon the plan. Round the port of Claudius only a few could be traced, which are marked L.; but they were doubtless much more extensive in the original design. The dotted line on the right side of the engraving shows the point to which the sea extended when the survey was taken.

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  Portus/1.1