Isola Sacra (the Holy Isle) is situated in the

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

region of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

south of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, near the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian pe ...

. It is part of the town of

Fiumicino Fiumicino () is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 80,500 (2019). It is known for being the site of Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, the busiest airport in Italy and the eleventh-bu ...

Overview

The area between

Portus Portus was a large artificial harbour of Ancient Rome. Sited on the north bank of the north mouth of the Tiber, on the Tyrrhenian coast, it was established by Claudius and enlarged by Trajan to supplement the nearby port of Ostia. The archae ...

and

Ostia Antica Ostia Antica ("Ancient Ostia") is a large archaeological site, close to the modern town of Ostia (Rome), Ostia, that is the location of the harbour city of ancient Rome, 25 kilometres (15 miles) southwest of Rome. "Ostia" (plur. of "ostium") is a ...

was transformed into an artificial island by Emperor

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...

, creating a canal that linked the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest 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 it is joined by the Riv ...

(Fossa Traiana, now Fiumicino Canal). Merchant ships arriving from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

were able to reach Ostia using this canal. The island was originally much smaller but it has been constantly growing due to the alluvial activity of the Tiber. Its area almost quintupled since antiquity. The inhabitants of Portus were middle-class administrators, traders, merchants, and sea workers often descended from slaves. In the 1st century AD., a road linked the two ports, crossing through the island and becoming the main road axis. The

Isola Sacra Necropolis {{Infobox ancient site , name = Isola Sacra , native_name = , alternate_name = Necropoli di Porto , image = Necropoli di Porto 03.JPG , alt = , caption = Necropolis of Portus , map_type = Italy Lazio , map_alt = , coordinates = ...

grew up alongside the road, that was discovered between the 1920s and the 1940s, while the land was being reclaimed. Some of the necropolis buildings have two storeys, elaborately decorated with paintings, stucco work and mosaics. The left side of the ''Fossa Traiana'' was a residential area of

. Near the Fiumicino Canal, by the bridge that crossed over to Portus, the so-called

Terme di Matidia Terme (formerly spelled ''Termeh''; Ancient Greek: Thèrmae, Θέρμαι) is the seat of Terme District, Samsun Province, Turkey. Terme is located on Terme River, about 5 km from its mouth, on the eastern end of the Çarşamba Plain. Term ...

can be seen. The core of the complex built in the middle of the 2nd century and used until the 6th century. The Basilica of St. Hippolitus was built between the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 5th century. The building was divided into three naves by two rows of columns. The study of human skeletal remains from the site continues to provide important information about diet and morbidity in ancient Rome.

Sources

D'Ambra, E. 1981
"A work 'ethic' at Ostia: the Isola Sacra reliefs." Thesis (M.A.)--University of California, Los Angeles—Art History. * Keay, S., Millett, M., Strutt, K., Germoni, P. 2020. "The Isola Sacra Survey, Ostia, Portus and the port system of Imperial Rome", McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge, UK, (226 p). * Prowse T., Schwarcz H., Saunders S., Bondioli L., and Macchiarelli R. 2005. "Isotopic evidence for age-related variation in diet from Isola Sacra, Italy." ''American Journal of Physical Anthropology''. 128(1):2-13.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Archaeological sites in Lazio Fiumicino Roman sites in Lazio Islands of the Tiber