The ports of the Gulf of Naples; Puteoli and the opus pilarum technique

Identifier:  TFM:396

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TFM396

Authors:  García Llana, Jorge

Abstract:
Among the excellent harbours of the Neapolitan gulf, one in particular, the one in Puteoli, would stand out over all the others because of its fundamental role as port of entry for the wheat destined to feed the plebs of Rome. Part of its success is due to its optimum location, complemented by the advantages of its main pier, built with the opus pilarum technique, making it one of the most efficient structures of antiquity, which revealed the great virtues offered by pozzolanic ash, one of the components of opus caementicium able of solidify under water. This highly efficient building system would soon seem to be imitated by other ports in the Mediterranean, but such fact would not reach the magnitudes that modern historiography would expect.