{{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 = {{coord, 41, 46, 10, N, 12, 15, 50, E, display=inline,title , location = Comune di Fiumicino,

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

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 ...

, region = Lazio , type = Necropolis , part_of = , length = , width = , area = , height = , builder = , material = , built = first century AD , abandoned = sixth century AD , epochs =

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

Roman empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

, cultures =

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, 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 ...

, dependency_of = , occupants = , event = , excavations = yes , archaeologists = Guido Calza , condition = , ownership = , management = Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma , public_access = yes , website
Necropoli di Porto
{{in lang, it , notes = The Isola Sacra Necropolis was the first large-scale

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...

of Roman Imperial times to be excavated. The excavator-in-chief of most of Isola Sacra was Guido Calza. The

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

was found on the manmade island of

Isola Sacra Isola Sacra (the Holy Isle) is situated in the Lazio region of Italy south of Rome, near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is part of the town of Fiumicino. Overview The area between Portus and Ostia Antica was transformed into an artificial island by Emper ...

, which lies between the cities of

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 archa ...

and

Ostia Antica Ostia Antica ("Ancient Ostia") is a large archaeological site, close to the modern town of 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 derivation ...

, a region just 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 ...

. The emperor

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 ...

was in power when this artificial island was created. Much of the excavated necropolis flanked the

Via Severiana Via Severiana was an ancient Roman road in central Italy leading in Latium (modern Lazio), running southeast from Portus to Tarracina (passing trought the Isola Sacra), a distance of 80 Roman miles (c. ) along the coast. A restoration and reunion ...

, which ran through Isola Sacra and traveled southeast from Ostica to

Terracina Terracina is an Italian city and '' comune'' of the province of Latina, located on the coast southeast of Rome on the Via Appia ( by rail). The site has been continuously occupied since antiquity. History Ancient times Terracina appears in anc ...

.White, M.L. Synagogue and Society in Imperial Ostia: Archaeological and Epigraphic Evidence. ''The Harvard Theological Review'' 1997; 90: 23-58. The cemetery was extensive, and was comparable to Etruscan cemeteries and

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

catacombs Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etymology and history The first place to be referred ...

.Calza, G. La Necropoli del Porto di Roma nell'Isola Sacra ''The Journal of Roman Studies'' 1941; 31: 207-209. Although some tombs were constructed for the very poor, the majority of burials were built by the middle class

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. Th ...

of the area. Since the burial grounds were constructed during the 2nd century and first half of the 3rd century, a historical transition is seen in the necropolis from the

practice of

cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...

inhumation Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

Importance of Necropolis to Imperial Art

The necropolis also provides insight into the history of Roman Imperial Art, as paintings,

mosaics A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

, and

sculptures Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

come from 3 different imperial reigns:

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania ...

, the Antonines, and the

Severan Dynasty The Severan dynasty was a Roman imperial dynasty that ruled the Roman Empire between 193 and 235, during the Roman imperial period. The dynasty was founded by the emperor Septimius Severus (), who rose to power after the Year of the Five Empero ...

. By the first half of the 4th century, the Necropolis was abandoned, and by the 6th century, the burial grounds were covered with sand. The original inscriptions, found on marble slabs, provide information regarding the occupations of those whom the cemetery accommodated. The Necropolis housed generally humble professionals, including shopkeepers, traders, workmen, shipowners, and porters. Families, however, built very elaborate burial homes for their dead relatives despite their humble backgrounds.Strabo, V, 3, 5 The discovered tombs at Isola Sacra provide useful information regarding the study of bourgeois taste in painted walls. Besides paintings, there were numerous

found at the Necropolis, varying in artistic merit and content. Exquisite

sarcophagi A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

exist, including one of a child with revelling

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University o ...

, or a winged babies, and one of the

Archigallus A ''gallus'' (pl. ''galli'') was a eunuch priest of the Phrygian goddess Cybele (Magna Mater in Rome) and her consort Attis, whose worship was incorporated into the state religious practices of ancient Rome. Origins Cybele's cult may have ori ...

, or head priest, of the island. In contrast, simple

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

, or ceramic, reliefs have been painted on tombs to show the professions of the deceased. Non-sepulchral sculptures found in the tombs could have been family heirlooms that were hidden in the burial grounds during a time of barbarian attack.

Graeco-Oriental Influence

A great number of the inscriptions on the tombs suggest Graeco-Oriental origin. Scholars believe this is because Portus and Ostia were cosmopolitan towns where the bourgeois population was full of businessmen of non-Italian birth.Lieberman, D.E., Osteodental Biology of the People of Portus Romae ''Journal of Human Evolution'' 2000; 39:124. Latin, however, was the language that most townspeople used during the time that the necropolis was built. Nonetheless, the presence of Graeco-Oriental inscriptions, along with Isola Sacra tombs that resembled

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

tombs of

Petra Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to the mountain of Ja ...

, suggests Roman naturalization of foreign influence, which was prominent in the Empire.

References

Cemeteries in Italy Religion in the Roman Empire Archaeological sites in Lazio