Rome: Temple of Portunus

Temple of Portunus: one of the temple of Rome's Forum Boarium.

The Temple of Portunus, the god of the river port, is one of the two temples on the Forum Boarium ("cattle market") that have survived to the present day. Here, it is seen from the east, from the forum itself. Behind it you can see the cars on the Lungotevere, the street along the river Tiber. Behind the cars, invisible, is the ruin of the ancient Pons Aemilius, the Aemilian bridge.

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The street that once connected the Forum Boarium with the bridge and passed in front of this temple, was called Vicus Lucceius (today Via di Ponte Rotto). Nowadays, the close connection between the temple and the water is hard to imagine, because after the flood of 1870, dikes were constructed to regulate the river. However, we can be certain that this temple once faced the incoming ships.

In the centuries BCE, in front of this temple was the river port, which silted up during the early empire. When the present building of the Anagrafe was constructed, the remains of buildings from the age of the emperor Trajan were found, which had been built on the site of the ancient port.

Until the discovery of the old river port, the function of the square temple on the Forum Boarium was unknown, and it was sometimes -but incorrectly- called "Temple of Fortuna Virilis".

The present shape of the temple dates back to the early second century BCE, but there were later restorations. It is erected from tuff from the valley of the river Anio. The terrace was exceptionally high (a part is now hidden under the ground) because it was so close to the river. The sanctuary was built on the site of an older temple, which seems to date back to the third or even to the fourth century BCE.

The last photo shows the temple, seen from the dike along the Tiber. Behind the temple was the Forum Boarium and the Porta Flumentana ("river gate").

A satellite photo can be found here.