A huge shipyard larger than a football pitch that built or maintained ships for the Roman empire has been found by British archaeologists.
A team headed by the University of Southampton excavated the remains of a building more than 150 metres long, 60 metres wide and five storeys high at Portus, which was the ancient port for Rome.
The structure from about 117 AD, in the reign of Trajan, was used to either build or service ships that travelled across the empire 2,000 years ago to keep Rome supplied with food and goods.
It is largest find of its kind in Italy or the Mediterranean.
It was found close to a distinctive existing hexagonal basin or “harbour” at the centre of the huge ancient port complex, which covers two miles square. It sits by the side of Fiumicino airport and is now more than two miles from the Mediterranean.
The building is so grand archaeologists think it had some form of imperial connection and might have been used for a base for galleys that transported emperors, such as Hadrian, across the empire on their way to places like Britain.
The latest discovery comes after the team found an ornate private amphitheatre at the same site two years ago. The new building is further proof of a link to the leaders of the Roman world and the importance of the ruins.
University of Southampton professor and Portus project director, Simon Keay, said: “This is an exciting and important discovery and the building is a really, really fantastic thing to find. Emperors leaving and coming back in this period, like Hadrian, must have come through Portus and they must have had a place to stay and leave from that was of a status similar to what we have found... Few Roman imperial shipyards have been discovered and, if our identification is correct, this would be the largest of its kind in Italy or the Mediterranean.”
Portus was a crucial trade gateway linking Rome to the Mediterranean throughout the Roman period and the archaeologists have been investigating the port’s significance over a number of years.
The Anglo-Italian dig is a joint project between the University of Southampton, the British School at Rome, Cambridge University and Archaeological Superintendency of Rome.