On display in this area are 318 quarried marbles, organized according to qualitative and typological criteria, and their provenance. Some were recovered from the late 1950s onwards from the manmade Fiumicino canal (the ancient Fossa Traiana) and the shores of Isola Sacra, home to the statio marmorum (the place where marbles were unloaded and stored), others came from the archaeological site of ancient Ostia, whilst the last substantial group was found in the central area of Isola Sacra. The countless blocks and half-finished column shafts, many of which bear quarry inscriptions and are sometimes accompanied by lead seals indicating that they were imperial property, are some of the most important evidence for the marble trade in the Roman period. The quarries were spread around different parts of the empire, even in the furthest provinces: the use of the marbles extracted here, especially the coloured marbles, was an important means of glorifying the power of Rome and, in particular, of the emperor.
Recovery and transport of the blocks found in the Fiumicino canal in 1977
Recovery and transport of the blocks found in the Fiumicino canal in 1977