The technology of Roman harbours

Archaeological evidence for unusually rapid holocene uplift rates in an active normal faulting terrain: Roman Harbor of Aigeira, Gulf of Corinth, Greece

“…There is no evidence that this conglomerate was originally reveted by hewn blocks. On the contrary, the large number of cavities in the concrete in combination with evidence form a number of submerged or silted up Mediterranean harbors, in which timber remains are sometimes preserved, indicates that this conglomerate was constructed in a timber mold (Schlaeger, 1971;Lamprecht, 1985;Oleson, 1988;Hesnard, 1994;Blackman, 1996). However, no traces of molding have been observed in the ruins at Mavra Litharia, probably because this harbor is exposed to the air by tectonic uplift and signs of wood have been obliterated, while the whole structure has been seriously eroded.…”

“…Yet, due to sea level rise and sedimentation, most ancient harbors are found quasisubmerged, submerged (Flemming, 1969(Flemming, , 1978 or silted up, and their study is extremely difficult, for it requires extended excavations or underwater surveys (Schlaeger, 1971;Oleson, 1988;Lamprecht, 1985;Hesnard, 1994). Yet, harbors in areas of tectonic uplift, for instance in West Crete (Flemming, 1978;Pirazzoli et al, 1992), the Gulf of Corinth (Pirazzoli et al, 1994;Stiros et al, 1996), or SE Turkey (Erol and Pirazzoli, 1992) are usually exposed and give the opportunity to study their structure and environmental change history.…”

Geoarchaeology of Beirut's ancient harbour, Phoenicia

“…Only at Sidon have we been able to localise and date pockets of fine-grained Iron Age sediments (Marriner and Morhange, 2006b). Research has shown that the Roman period marks a technological watershed in many ancient harbours of the Mediterranean (Oleson, 1988;Rickman, 1988). At Marseilles and Naples, for example, wide-reaching infrastructure enterprises were undertaken not only to overdeepen the rapidly silting up port, but also to completely refashion harbour layouts (Hesnard, 2004a,b).…”

The Locus of Carthage: Compounding Geographical Logic

“…On the other hand, as a better parallel to Carthage's shelter in the inner part of the double Gulf of Tunis, the natural Campanian harbor of Puteoli (Pozzuoli) was noted and chosen by Roman naval engineers for some of the same criteria as at Carthage due to its fine deepwater natural harbor, where it was "this shoreline and all its facilities which made Puteoli the great port" in the late Republic (Rickman 1988;Oleson 1988;Hohlfelder 2008). Carthage's excellent natural location, however, was greatly enhanced by the Cothon manmade harbor whereas Roman Puteoli added moles similar to modern breakwaters.…”