Portus - One of the most important archaeological sites in the world.

Portus was the principal port of ancient Rome and its gateway to the Mediterranean for most of the Imperial period.

Funded by the AHRC, experts from the University of Southampton have been working with colleagues from the BSR (The Italian Archaeological Superintendency for Ostia) and the University of Cambridge, to carry out extensive excavation at Portus.  They have uncovered a large Roman warehouse, an amphitheatre and what the team have identified as an Imperial palace.

In this video Professor Simon Keay, Portus Project Director and leading expert in Roman Archaeology, and Dr Graeme Earl explain the importance of Portus and the visual tools that they have used to interpret the site.

'Portus must be one of the most important archaeological sites in the world.  It must be up there with Stonehenge, Machu Picchu and Angkor Wat', argues Professor Keay, 'the great thing about Portus is that most of it has been preserved and an awful lot more can be done there.'

For a higher quality version of this video, please visit the AHRC's YouTube channel.

If you would like a transcript of this podcast please email communications@ahrc.ac.uk

For more information about Portus please see the project website: http://www.portusproject.org

Running Time: 5 minutes. File size 20.3mb