- Portus Julius
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 inRavenna .) The port was located at the western end of the gulf ofNaples 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 forJulius Caesar .Battle of Actium
To counter frequent pirate raids on shipping routes for Rome's grain supply, the Romans constructed a ship-building and training facility in the area. After the epochal naval
battle of Actium , the facility was expanded by CaesarAugustus in37 BC . The various lakes were linked by canals and the area was also joined to nearbyCumae by an underground passage 1 km (0.6 mile) long and wide enough to be used by chariots.Aqueduct
The Romans built new breakwaters and a freshwater reservoir, the "
Piscina Mirabilis ", of unparalleled size. It was fed by theAqua Augusta (Naples) , anaqueduct which also suppliedPompeii .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.
Present state
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 harbour facilities under water; some of them may be seen from glass-bottom boats or by scuba-diving.
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