HELP on Roman information

[caesar17]

I am writing essay on the significance of the public work programs of Claudius detailed in Claudius 20 (Suetonius).

I was wondering if anybody could let me know where I could find the actual costs to build the port/Harbour at Ostia.

Also, does anybody have any idea where or how much it would cost to build a port/harbour in a pre-industrialized society (I am hoping to use it as proxy data).

A speedy response is necessary (it is due 28 hours) and any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Tamur]

I don't want to be discouraging, but the costs of the port at Ostia are going to be nearly impossible to pin down, since 1) its storied founding was in 610 BC by a king many folks these days believe was a diety personification rather than a real person, and 2) finding subsequent maintenance or rebuilding records (e.g. after it was razed by good old Marius) is nigh on impossible as far as I know.

Your best bet is to hit a library and look for anything you can find on Roman maritime trade. However, there are few original sources that deal with this area.

Good luck!

[Zaknafien]

You can probably do some searching around on the internet for pieces on Ostia..You're probably referring to the costs of the later Ostia which was built in the Imperial period by Claudius for grain ships, etc. It was quite an effort, and work went on from 42 to 64 CE, but Ostia has a much older history than that.

To the east of Ostia are salt-pans, where salt was probably already extracted in the Middle and Late Bronze Age (1400-1000 BC). There may have been a small village near the salt-pans in the Early Iron Age (1000-700 BC).

According to ancient tradition (authors such as Ennius, Livius, Cicero and Dionysius of Halicarnassus) Ostia was founded by the fourth king of Rome, Ancus Marcius, who was thought to have ruled in the late seventh century BC. Even the year is mentioned: 620 BC. So far no archaeological remains have been found in or near Ostia dating from this period. If a settlement existed, then it must have been a small city, not a village. It may have been situated to the east of the salt-pans. The existence of the settlement is likely, because Livius mentions Ostia twice in his accounts of the fifth century.

The course of a road from this period can still be traced. The road started at the mouth of the Tiber, and continued towards the south-east. Today the first part of this road is called Via della Foce ("Road of the Mouth"), the second part "southern stretch of the Cardo". This road would eventually lead to a great irregularity in the lay-out of Imperial Ostia.