Reconstructing the Temple, Temenos and Statue of Trajan

The following images illustrate the interpretative process that lies behind reconstructing buildings at the site, with reference to the temple, temenos and statue of Trajan that lay on the eastern side of the hexagonal Port of Trajan, opposite its entrance from the Port of Claudius. The first (Fig.1) is a photograph taken on the site of the temple platform, looking down to the water within the hexagon, and the entrance to the harbour beyond: most of the view, however, is obscured by trees. The second (Fig.2) reveals the geophysical evidence for the temple and adjacent warehouses, while the third (Fig.3) is an interpretation of the geophysics, with the solid lines indicating magnetic anomalies that the archaeologists have interpreted as walls and other structures: these are marked as 11.8, 11.9, 11.10 and 11.11 on the plan. Overall they suggest the existence of a rectangular temple set within a rectangular precinct (temenos): the area where the statue of Trajan probably stood was not available for survey. The fourth image (Fig. 4) is a wire-frame plot that that is the computer-based "skeleton"on which the rendered reconstruction was "hung". The final images (Fig.5 and Fig.6) show the relationship between the two, and the temple in its wider context (Fig.7 and Fig.8).

This is Figure 1 This is Figure 2 This is Figure 3 This is Figure 4
Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4
This is Figure 5 This is Figure 6 Virtual Portus Reconstruction - Overview of the port showing temple in distance Virtual Portus Reconstruction - Zoomed view of the temple in context
Fig. 5 Fig. 6 Fig. 7 Fig. 8