The morning din floated above the city like a bank of fog.

Portus, the harbor that connected the great imperial city of Rome to the wider Mediterranean

world, was a wash in the sounds of activity.

Sailors carefully pulled huge merchant vessels up to the wooden docks of the enormous artificial

hexagonal harbor.

These ships completed journeys that had begun in Egypt, North Africa, Gal, Spain, Sicily,

Greece, and Palestine.

Longshoremen unloaded ceramic jugs called M4i, full of olive oil from Carthage, fish sauce

from Taragona, and wine from Gaza.

Sacks full of grain from Egypt and Sicily sat heavy on the portors' backs.

Human cargo, slaves were letting chains down onto the docks.

The enormous warehouses along the water stored the goods before they made their final

journeys.

Carts loaded with that vast array of items wound through the city's crowded streets

to another set of docks along an artificial canal where boats waited on the river

tibre to take them upstream to Rome.

Other carts clattered onto the paved stones of the winding, hilly 15 mile road to the city,

the Via Portoensis.

Wenders, hocked glass, marble, bricks, and ceramic tableware.

Building sites thrummed with activity, constructing new apartment blocks and warehouses.

Bakers churned out loaf after loaf after loaf of rough bread for the thousands of people

whose labor made Portus home.

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