DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0101
Africa under Trajan
59
nor can we be surprised at reading that the safe arrival of the
fleet at a certain period of the year was a matter of grave
anxiety to the people of Rome. From Seneca we have a
graphic description of the arrival of the Alexandrian fleet in
the port of Puteoli, how the population mounted the hill-tops
in expectation, how they scanned the broad waters for the first
glimpse of the convoy, and how great the rejoicing when the
laden vessels were brought safely into harbour. Similar scenes
occurred at the still more important port of Ostia at the mouth
of the Tiber. Any one who has visited in recent times this
almost deserted sand-choked region, with its silent waters and
still more silent plains, experiences a difficulty in conjuring up
from these mute surroundings a picture of Ostia of old times—
the port of Rome, and the pride of the Emperors. Undulations
of the surface and fragments of marble and pottery upturned
by the plough or spade are the chief indication of the old city
buried far below. The harbour which Claudius caused to be
made for his increasing fleet, and the splendid pentagonal basin
of Trajan's time, may still be traced on the marshy land which
has swallowed up the Mediterranean on these inhospitable
shores. And the foundations of the great granaries which
stored the wheat supply of Northern Africa are there to tell
their own tale of a period of marked prosperity and great
commercial activity.1
From the epistles of Pliny the Younger and his panegyric
on his noble patron we obtain an insight into the principles
which actuated Trajan in his government of the provinces of
the Empire. Africa and Asia were the two senatorial provinces
of the first rank, and, as Roman colonies were more numerous
in Africa, we may assume that this enlightened ruler adopted
a large-minded policy in so important an adjunct of his
dominions. Had Pliny been governor of a province of Mauri-
tania in Africa instead of Bithynia in Asia, we should have
been acquainted with many subjects which can only be in-
1 Ostia and its remains have been an attractive field for archteologists of many
coun.ries. The intelligent labours of Visconti, Canina, and Texier have thrown con-
arable light on the history and value of Ostia and its harbours in the days of the
^mpire. And so eminent an authority on all questions of Roman archaeology as
Signor Lanciani has cleared up many points in numerous papers on the subject, fully
attesting the splendour of Ostia at the commencement of the second century. ( Vide
Lanciani, Ancient Rome, pp. 235-246.)
59
nor can we be surprised at reading that the safe arrival of the
fleet at a certain period of the year was a matter of grave
anxiety to the people of Rome. From Seneca we have a
graphic description of the arrival of the Alexandrian fleet in
the port of Puteoli, how the population mounted the hill-tops
in expectation, how they scanned the broad waters for the first
glimpse of the convoy, and how great the rejoicing when the
laden vessels were brought safely into harbour. Similar scenes
occurred at the still more important port of Ostia at the mouth
of the Tiber. Any one who has visited in recent times this
almost deserted sand-choked region, with its silent waters and
still more silent plains, experiences a difficulty in conjuring up
from these mute surroundings a picture of Ostia of old times—
the port of Rome, and the pride of the Emperors. Undulations
of the surface and fragments of marble and pottery upturned
by the plough or spade are the chief indication of the old city
buried far below. The harbour which Claudius caused to be
made for his increasing fleet, and the splendid pentagonal basin
of Trajan's time, may still be traced on the marshy land which
has swallowed up the Mediterranean on these inhospitable
shores. And the foundations of the great granaries which
stored the wheat supply of Northern Africa are there to tell
their own tale of a period of marked prosperity and great
commercial activity.1
From the epistles of Pliny the Younger and his panegyric
on his noble patron we obtain an insight into the principles
which actuated Trajan in his government of the provinces of
the Empire. Africa and Asia were the two senatorial provinces
of the first rank, and, as Roman colonies were more numerous
in Africa, we may assume that this enlightened ruler adopted
a large-minded policy in so important an adjunct of his
dominions. Had Pliny been governor of a province of Mauri-
tania in Africa instead of Bithynia in Asia, we should have
been acquainted with many subjects which can only be in-
1 Ostia and its remains have been an attractive field for archteologists of many
coun.ries. The intelligent labours of Visconti, Canina, and Texier have thrown con-
arable light on the history and value of Ostia and its harbours in the days of the
^mpire. And so eminent an authority on all questions of Roman archaeology as
Signor Lanciani has cleared up many points in numerous papers on the subject, fully
attesting the splendour of Ostia at the commencement of the second century. ( Vide
Lanciani, Ancient Rome, pp. 235-246.)