was not one half the size of London, and presuming that it required one half the amount of supplies from abroad, the shipping employed in its over-sea trade would be more than twice as great as that now necessary to supply the wants of the inhabitants of the metropolis of Great Britain.
A.D. 41.
Port of Ostia.
Previous to the reign of Claudius[1] the chief over-sea
intercourse with the city was carried on by way of
Puteoli, now Pozzuoli, near the Bay of Naples, about
seventy miles from Rome. Here the larger description
of vessels, employed in the trade of Alexandria and of
Spain, discharged their cargoes; but the inconvenience
and expense of land carriage became so enormous,
especially upon low priced and bulky articles, such as
corn, as to fully justify the cost of erecting the new
port of Ostia, and the embanking and deepening of
the Tiber. Half a century afterwards, the Emperor
Trajan, remarkable not merely for the splendid
edifices erected during his reign, in almost every
part of the empire, but for the interest he took in
maritime affairs, constructed, to meet the increasing
wants of the provinces, the present Civita Vecchia, as
well as the town and port of Ancona on the Adriatic,
where may still be read an inscription on the monument
of marble he raised at the extremity of the Mole,
dedicating the harbour to the use of the mariners who
frequented those seas.
But the port of Ostia was the most useful monument of Roman greatness in connection with shipping established by the empire, and has been described as one of the boldest and most stupendous works of
- ↑ Claudius began, and Nero and Trajan completed, this great work.
