Reconstructions
The large extent of Portus makes it difficult to understand its layout or the inter-relationship of its constituent elements at any one time in its history. One of the best ways of gaining a 'feel' for the site is by undertaking virtual visits to the site. The visits have been arranged for the three main chronological periods of the site: the Pre-Trajanic port, the Trajanic and later port, and the Late Antique port. The 'route' taken by these visits can be seen on the accompanying images.
Note: Following the links directly will load a page containing the map and an embedded QuickTime (Version 7) video. Warning: The movie files are each 11 MB and will be downloaded upon following the links. You may download the smaller files below. If you do not have QuickTime 7 installed it should automatically prompt you to do so. If not please visit http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/. Alternatively you may downlaod the QuickTime videos direct to your computer. Finally there are lower resolution mp4 format files available for download below.
Pre-Trajanic - Sea to Port
This animation begins at the sea and slowly moves in past the Pharos into the Outer Basin - the Port of Claudius. Following a view of the expanse of the basin and the enclosing moles the ship moves in past a small lighthouse into the Inner Basin and eventually the Darsena.
Trajanic - Sea to Port
This animation starts off on the same path as the Pre-Trajanic version. Upon arriving at the Darsena the ship continues on into the Hexagonal Port of Trajan - the new inner basin. This animation uses the same vessel as the Pre-Trejanic animation but includes a distant environmental element to give an indication of the possible view of distant sand dunes. This has not been included in all views in order to provide a comparison of possible vistas.
Trajanic - Tiber to Trajanic Canal and Sea
This route follows a canal barge from the Tiber, down Trajan's Canal passing various warehouses and aqueducts, and ending on the outside of the southern mole of the Port of Claudius. A few environmental elements have been added to indicate the changing nature of the areas passed.
Late Antique- Sea to Port
This animation follows an identical path to the Trajanic approach from the sea. It allows the Late Antique modifications to be seen, in particular the "Constantinian Wall".
Late Antique- Tiber to Trajanic Canal and Sea
Again this animation parallels that from the Trajanic period, but this time with an alternative vessel affording views of the Late Antique walls.
These simulated routes were created in the hope of providing the visitor with a more realistic experience of the distinctive spatial organization of the site. In this way the visitor gets a better 'feel' for the realities of a cargo-laden sea-going merchant ship moving between the Port of Claudius (outer basin), the Darsena and the Port of Trajan (inner basin), and an empty barge returning from Rome and moving down the Tiber, along the Trajanic canal to the sea. It also enables the visitor to gain a sense of difference between the Ports of Claudius and Trajan. The former was a very extensive open space with a range of commercial buildings, while the latter comprised an enclosed space bounded by a mixture of commercial buildings, an official complex and a temple with imperial associations.
| Period | Route | Download QuickTime7 Movie | Download mp4 Movie |
| Pre-Trajanic | Sea to Port | MOV (11MB) | MP4 (4MB) |
| Trajanic | Sea to Port | MOV (11MB) | MP4 (4MB) |
| Trajanic | Tiber to Trajanic Canal and Sea | MOV (11MB) | MP4 (4MB) |
| Late Antique | Sea to Port | MOV (11MB) | MP4 (4MB) |
| Late Antique | Tiber to Trajanic Canal and Sea | MOV (11MB) | MP4 (4MB) |
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