Portus is an ancient harbour of Latium, Italy, on the right bank of the Tiber River, at its mouth. For its origin see Ostia. Claudius constructed the first harbour here, 2 1/2 mi. north of Ostia, enclosing an area of 170 acres, with two long curving moles projecting into the sea, and an artificial island, bearing a lighthouse, in the centre of the space between them; the harbour thus opened directly to the sea on the north-west and communicated with the Tiber by a channel on the south-east. The object was to obtain protection from the prevalent south-west wind, to which the river mouth was exposed. Though Claudius, in the inscription which he caused to be erected in A.D. 46, boasted that he had freed the city of Rome from the danger of inundation, his work was only partially successful. Nero gave the harbour the name of Portus Augusti. It was probably Claudius who constructed hither the direct road from Rome, the Via Portuensis (15 mi.) which ran over the hills as far as the modern Ponte Galera, and then straight across the plain. An older road, the Via Campana, ran along the foot of the hills, following the right bank of the Tiber, and passing the grove of the Arval Brothers at the sixth mile, to the Campus salinarum romanarum, the saltmarsh on the right bankfrom which indeed it derived its name. The site can still be fairly clearly traced in the low ground to the east of Fiumicino, and the lighthouse is represented in bas-reliefs. The harbour is generally supposed to have been protected by two moles with a breakwater in front, on which stood the lighthouse, with an entrance on each side of it. Trial soundings made in 1907 showed that the course of the right-hand mole is represented by a low sandhill, while the central breakwater was only some 190 yards long, and probably divided from each of the two moles by a channel some 125 yards wide. The existence of two entrances is, indeed, in accordance with the evidence of coins and literary tradition, though the position of that on the left is not certain, and it may have been closed in later times. The whole course of the left-hand mole has not yet been traced, but it seems to have protected not only the south-west but also a considerable portion of the north-west side of the harbour. In A.D. 103 Trajan constructed another harbour farther inland—a hexagonal basin enclosing an area of 97 acres, and communicating by canals with the harbour of Claudius, with the Tiber direct, and with the sea, the last now forming the navigable arm of the Tiber (reopened for traffic by Gregory XIII and again by Paul V.), and bearing the name Fossa trajana, though its origin is undoubtedly due to Claudius. The basin itself is still preserved, and is now a reedy lagoon. It was surrounded by extensive warehouses, remains of which may still be seen: the fineness of the brickwork of which they are built is remarkable. Jump to: navigation, search Latium (Lazio in Italian) is a region of central Italy, bordered by Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzo, Molise, Campania and the Tyrrhenian Sea. ... Tiber River in Rome The River Tiber (Italian Tevere), the third longest river in Italy (disputed — see talk page) at 406 km (252 miles) after the Po and the Adige, flows through the Campagna and Rome in its course from Mount Fumaiolo to the Tyrrhenian Sea, which it reaches in... Jump to: navigation, search Ostia scale model The Temple of the goddess Roma on the Forum of Ostia Ostia, an ancient town on the coast facing the Tyrrhenian Sea, in Latium, Italy, was the harbour of ancient Rome and perhaps its first colonia. ... Jump to: navigation, search A statue of Emperor Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (August 1, 10 BC–October 13, 54), originally known as Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, was the fourth Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from January 24, 41 to his death in 54. ... Jump to: navigation, search City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost... Jump to: navigation, search Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (December 15, 37–June 9, 68), born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called (50–54) Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and last Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... Fiumicino is an Italian town, in which Leornardo Da Vinci airport is located. ... Emperor Trajan Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus (September 18, 53-August 9, 117), Roman Emperor (98-117), commonly called Trajan, was the second of the so-called Five Good Emperors of the Roman Empire. ... Pope Gregory XIII (1502-1585) Gregory XIII, né Ugo Buoncampagno (January 7, 1502 – April 10, 1585) was pope (1572 – 1585). ... Painting of Pope Paul V by Caravaggio Paul V, né Camillo Borghese (Rome, September 17, 1550 - January 28, 1621) was Pope from May 16, 1605 until his death. ...

Farther to the east is a circular building in brick with niches; it is called the temple of Portumnus. To the east again is the so-called Arco di Nostra Donna, a gateway (possibly originally built by Trajan) in the fortifications which surround the port and are attributed to the time of Constantine. Many other remains of buildings exist; they were more easily traceable in the 16th century when Pirro Ligorio and Antonio Labacco made plans of the harbour. Considerable excavations were carried on in 1868, but unfortunately with the idea of recovering works of art and antiquities; and the plan and description given by R. Lanciani (Annali del institute, 1868, 144 sqq.) were made under unfavourable circumstances. By means of these works Portus captured the main share of the harbour traffic of Rome, and though the importance of Ostia did not at once decrease we find Portus already an episcopal see in Constantine's time not very long (if at all) after Ostia, and as the only harbour in the time of tile Gothic wars. Its abandonment dates from the partial silting up of the right arm of the Tiber in the middle ages, which restored to Ostia what little traffic was left. To the west of the harbour is the cathedral of S. Rufina (10th century, but modernized except for the campanile) and the episcopal palace, fortified in the middle ages, and containing a number of ancient inscriptions from the site. On the island (Isola Sacra) just opposite is the church of S. Ippolito, built on the site of a Roman building, with a picturesque medieval campaniie (13th century ?); 2 m. to the west is the modern village of Fiumicino at the mouth of the right arm of the Tiber, which is 21 mi. westsouth-west by rail from Rome. It is a frazione, or portion of the commune of Rome. Three miles to the north is the pumping station by which the lowland (formerly called Stagno di Maccarese, now reclaimed and traversed by many drainage canals) between here and Maccarese is kept drained (Bonifica di Maccarese). Constantine has many usages: People called Constantine Rulers called Constantine Constantine I (emperor), commonly known as Constantine the Great Constantine II (emperor) Constantine III (usurper) Constantine III (emperor) Constantine IV Constantine V Constantine VI Constantine VII Constantine VIII Constantine IX Constantine X Constantine XI Constantine I of Armenia Constantine II... Pirro Ligori, (1510? - 1583) Italian architect, antiquarian and garden designer. ... A frazione, in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other subdivisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere: these are the lowest subdivisions of the country. ...

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain. Jump to: navigation, search Supporters contend that the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1910-1911) represents the sum of human knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century; indeed, it was advertised as such. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...