The area between the quay and the Portico of Claudius was occupied, at least starting from the 2nd century AD, by buildings used mostly as warehouses. The western portion of the walls (the so-called “Antemurale”) conserve the remains of at least two warehouses, rebuilt between the second half of the 4th and the second half of the 5th centuries AD. Their presence bearing witness to the essential role the Port still played during this period. They stood a short distance away from a major public building, the Porticus Placidiana, built in 425 AD on the northern bank of Fossa Traiana; their placement near the canal attests to the gradual shifting of harbour activities towards Fossa Traiana during the early medieval age.
Aerial view of one of the Late Antique warehouses incorporated into the walls
Reconstruction of the ground floor of one of the warehouses
(M. Serlorenzi)
Plan of the southern section of the walls and warehouses showing the phases
Warehouses of the Antemurale during excavation