Journal
JOURNAL OF ROMAN STUDIES
Volume 111, Issue -, Pages 1-30Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S0075435821000344
Keywords
Archaic Rome; environmental archaeology; coring survey; fluvial landscapes; historiography; urbanisation; human-environment interactions
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Funding
- Loeb Classical Library Foundation
- Gerda Henkel Foundation
- American Philosophical Society
- Etruscan Foundation
- Fondazione Lemmermann
- University of Michigan
- University of St Andrews
- Leverhulme Trust
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The geoarchaeological survey of the Forum Boarium has provided empirical evidence supporting the existence of a river harbour and ford in early Rome. The landscape of the river valley changed significantly in the sixth century B.C.E. due to fluvial processes possibly driven by urbanization. Rome's original harbour silted up around the beginning of the Republic, leading to the emergence of a high, wide riverbank.
A geoarchaeological coring survey of the Forum Boarium has shed considerable light on Rome's archaic landscape. We present the first empirical evidence that substantiates ancient and modern assumptions about the existence of a river harbour and ford in early Rome. Prior to the growth of the city, the riverbank - reconstructed as a high ledge at the base of the Capitoline Hill and a low-lying shore north of the Aventine - was particularly advantageous for river-related activities. However, the river valley changed significantly in the sixth century B.C.E., as a result of complex fluvial processes that were arguably spurred by urbanisation. Around the beginning of the Republic, Rome's original harbour silted up, and a high, wide riverbank emerged in its place. The siltation continued until the Forum Boarium was urbanised in the mid-Republic. In order to build their city and maintain river harbour operations, the Romans therefore had to adapt to dynamic ecological conditions.
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