The ''Emporium'' was the river port of the

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

, that rose approximately between the Aventine Hill and the

Rione A (; plural: ) is a neighbourhood in several Italian cities. A is a territorial subdivision. The larger administrative subdivisions in Rome are the , with the being used only in the historic centre. The word derives from the Latin , the 14 su ...

Testaccio Testaccio is the 20th ''rione'' of Rome, identified by the initials R. XX, deriving its name from Monte Testaccio. It is located within the Municipio I. Its coat of arms depicts an '' amphora'', referencing to the broken vessels that Monte Te ...

(the Rione takes its name from the hill made of broken ''amphorae'', originated by the wastes from the trade activities of the port).

History

Since the beginning of the 2nd century BC, the impetuous economic and demographic development had made the former river port in the

Forum Boarium The Forum Boarium (, it, Foro Boario) was the cattle '' forum venalium'' of ancient Rome. It was located on a level piece of land near the Tiber between the Capitoline, the Palatine and Aventine hills. As the site of the original docks of R ...

totally inadequate: moreover, it could not be enlarged due to its vicinity to the hills. Therefore, in 193 BC the

censors Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

Lucius Aemilius Lepidus and Lucius Aemilius Paulus established to face the problem by building a new port within a free area on the border of the town, south of the Aventine Hill. On that occasion the '' Porticus Aemilia'' was also erected. In 174 BC the ''Emporium'' was paved with stones and divided with walls and ladders descending to the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest List of rivers of Italy, river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where ...

. Here there was the docking place of the wares and raw materials (especially marbles, wheat, wine, oil); they reached the harbor of Ostia by sea and went up the river on

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

s pulled by buffaloes (

towpath A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mode of transport w ...

). During the centuries, the fragments of the ''amphorae'' (then used as containers for the handling of liquid foods), were clumped until they created the still-existing hill of shards: the ancient name of ''Mons Testaceum'' ("Hill of Shards") derived from it. The number of stacked-up ''amphorae'' is estimated to be about 25 million. During the reign of

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

, new ''

opus mixtum Example of ''opus mixtum'' in the substruction of France.html"_;"title="Brest_Castle,_France">Brest_Castle,_France_ ''Opus_mixtum''_(Latin:_"mixed_work"),_or_''opus_vagecum''_and_''opus_compositum'',_was_an_Roman_architecture.html" "title="ran ...

'' structures were erected, while the plain of Testaccio was gradually filled with warehouses, especially for foodstuffs, with a huge hike when free distributions of wheat and other foodstuffs to citizens began to take place, starting from the age of

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

and

Gaius Gracchus Gaius Sempronius Gracchus ( – 121 BC) was a reformist Roman politician in the 2nd century BC. He is most famous for his tribunate for the years 123 and 122 BC, in which he proposed a wide set of laws, including laws to establish ...

(''Horrea Sempronia'', '' Galbana'', ''Lolliana'', ''Seiana'', Aniciana''). The port was first excavated in 1868–1870, during the damming works, and then in 1952. Now there are few visible stretches, bricked in the wall of

Lungotevere Testaccio Lungotevere Testaccio is the stretch of lungotevere that connects piazza dell'Emporio with Largo Giovanni Battista Marzi (that is, between the ponte Sublicio and the ponte Testaccio), in Rome, in the Rione of the same name. History The Lungotev ...

: a quay long and {{convert, 90, m, ft deep, with steps and ramps toward the river, with bulging

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a p ...

blocks having holes for ships mooring, very similar – though not so well preserved – to the one in the Roman port of Aquileia. During the building of modern

quarter, severals remains of warehouses have come to light: among them, the tomb of the consul

Servius Sulpicius Galba Servius Sulpicius Galba may refer to: * Servius Sulpicius Galba (consul 144 BC) * Servius Sulpicius Galba (consul 108 BC) * Servius Sulpicius Galba (praetor 54 BC), assassin of Julius Caesar * Galba, born Servius Sulpicius Galba, Roman emperor fro ...

, one of the most ancient known individual sepulchres.

Bibliography

Filippo Coarelli Filippo Coarelli is an Italian archaeologist, Professor of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the University of Perugia. Born in Rome, Coarelli was a student of Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli. Coarelli is one of the foremost experts on Roman antiquiti ...

, ''Guida archeologica di Roma'', Verona, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1984. History of Rome Ruins in Italy Rome R. XX Testaccio