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Portus Julius
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Portus Julius (alternately spelled in the Latin "Iulius") was the home port for the Roman western imperial fleet, the classis Misenensis, named for nearby Cape Miseno. (The eastern fleet was in Ravenna.) The port was located at the western end of the gulf of Naples and other than the waters of the bay, itself, consisted of three bodies of water in the area: Lake Lucrino, Lake Averno, and the natural inner and outer harbor behind Cape Misenum. The port was named for Julius Caesar.
In preparation for the epochal naval battle of Actium, the Romans constructed a ship-building and training facility in the area. After the successful outcome of the battle, the facility was expanded by Caesar Augustus in 37 BC. The various lakes were linked by canals and the area was also joined to nearby Cumae by an underground passage 1 km (0.6 mile) long and wide enough to be used by chariots.
The Romans built new breakwaters and a freshwater reservoir, the Piscina Mirabilis, of unparalleled size. The outer harbor behind Cape Misenum served the active vessels of the Roman navy and provided room for training exercises, while its inner counterpart (to which it was connected by a canal crossed by a wooden bridge) was designed for the reserve fleet and for repairs, and as a refuge from storms. Because of its location, the area controlled the entire Italian west coast, the islands and the Straits of Messina.
The waters of Portus Julis may still be seen today, though in somewhat abridged fashion: one of the three original lakes of the Roman port, Lake Lucrino, was greatly reduced in size by the volcanic appearance of a large hill in the middle of the lake in the 16th century, a hill now called "Monte Nuovo" (New Mountain). Shifting coastlines over the centuries have also put a number of the original harbor facilities under water; some of them may seen from glass-bottom boats or by scuba-diving.