Port of Ostia

Triton XX, Lot: 669. Estimate $20000. Sold for $27500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Nero. AD 54-68. Æ Sestertius (36mm, 28.73 g, 6h). Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Struck circa AD 65. NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER P M TR [P I]MP P P, laureate head right / AVGV STI above, S C flanking PORT OST below, Port of Ostia: seven ships within the harbor; at the top is a pharus surmounted by a statue of Neptune; below is a reclining figure of Tiber, holding a rudder and dolphin; to left, crescent-shaped pier with portico, terminating with figure sacrificing at altar and with building; to right, crescent-shaped row of breakwaters or slips. RIC I 440 var. (position of S C on the reverse); Lyon 110 var. (same); WCN 420 var. (same); BMCRE 323 var. (same). Good VF, red and brown patina with traces of dark green, minor smoothing on obverse. Excellent reverse.

Ex Clarence & Helen Zaar Maritime Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 87, 18 May 2011), lot 967.

While Julius Caesar recognized the value of expanding Rome's port facilities at Ostia, it was Claudius who began actual building in AD 42. As part of the construction, one of Caligula's pleasure galleys was scuttled and filled with cement; above it was constructed a lighthouse surmounted by a statue of Neptune. Although the actual date of completion is not certain, it must have occurred shortly before this sestertius was minted. A further expansion of the facilities was required under Trajan and Hadrian. By the fourth century, however, the port's importance began to diminish as a result of silting. Soon the region became a breeding ground for malaria and was abandoned.