Trajan augustus, 98 – 117

Sestertius circa 112-114, Æ 35 mm, 26.86 g. IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P Laureate and draped bust r. Rev. PORTVM TRAIANI Bird’s eye view of the Portum Traiani with three ships at anchor. In exergue, S C. C 306 var. (laureate only). BMC 770a. RIC 632. CBN 773. Woytek 470v (these dies).
Extremely rare. Brown patina with some minor areas of porosity
and very gentle smoothing, otherwise good very fine

Ex Nudelman 10, 2011, 99 and NAC 64, 2012, 1164 sales. From the Peter Bowe collection.
In the Roman world a large percentage of the trade goods – ranging from the basics for survival to absurd luxury items – reached their destination by ship. Since the city of Rome was considerably inland, ships docked at Ostia, a safe harbour at the mouth of the Tiber on the western shore of the Italian peninsula. From there, goods made their way to Rome, usually up the Tiber. Maximising space at Ostia was critical to the survival of Rome, a city which at some points in history was home to perhaps a million people. This involved more than just maintaining the harbour, but expanding its capacity whenever possible. The original harbour was improved significantly in a construction project begun by Claudius and completed by his successor, Nero. New docks were excavated to the north along the Tiber, which were linked to the harbour by two canals. However, they silted up easily. Thus, Trajan created a second port, further inland, which could be accessed directly from the old Claudian port. Not much remains of the Claudian port, but the docks from Trajan’s hexagonal port are still well preserved on the Torlonia estate. Also discernible is the large canal that linked Trajan’s port with the Tiber, where goods were unloaded from seafaring ships onto smaller vessels, including barges, which would move them up the Tiber to Rome.