Built in continuity with the Portico of Claudius, the pier had the function of protecting the loading and unloading areas around the warehouses from waves and, thanks to the long colonnade that ran its length, contributed to the monumentalization of the inner harbour. The first section of the structure completed the maritime façade of Trajan’s Warehouses, extending northward for about 200 meters. Its continuation was the result of two later extensions, the first in the Severan Age (193-235 AD) with the function of defending the Severan Warehouses from wave action, and the second in Late Antiquity, when a small, commercial quarter was installed behind them. Also dating to this phase is a balneum (small bath installation), situated between the end part of the Portico of Claudius and Trajan’s Warehouses. In the early medieval age, the pier was likely used as a road axis
Detail of the holes left by the wooden catenae used for the pier’s construction
(École française de Rome)
Aerial view of the balneum
(École française de Rome)
The areas protected by the pier and by its later enlargements
(École française de Rome)
Reconstruction of the formwork used to build the piers in the water
(J.-C. Golvin)
Detail of the balneum’s suspensurae
(photo: École française de Rome)
Plan of the pier with reconstruction of the enlargement phases
(École française de Rome)