{{Infobox ancient site , name = Isola Sacra , native_name = , alternate_name = Necropoli di Porto , image = Necropolis of Portus (5191497483).jpg , alt = , caption = Necropolis of Portus , map_type = Italy Lazio , map_alt = , coordinates = {{coord, 41, 46, 10, N, 12, 15, 50, E, display=inline,title , location = Comune di

Fiumicino Fiumicino () is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 80,500 (2019). It is known for being the site of Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, the busiest airport in Italy and the ninth-b ...

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, region = Lazio , type =

Necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

, part_of = , length = , width = , area = , height = , builder = , material = , built = first century AD , abandoned = sixth century AD , epochs =

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, cultures =

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, dependency_of = , occupants = , event = , excavations = , archaeologists =

Guido Calza Guido Calza (21 April 1888 – 17 April 1946 in Rome, Italy), born in Milan, Italy, was an Italian archaeologist whose work included excavations in Rome and at the port city of Ostia. Calza served as inspector of the Ostia excavations and as the d ...

, condition = , ownership = , management = Archaeological Park of Ostia Antica , public_access = yes , website
ostiaantica.beniculturali.it
, notes = The Isola Sacra Necropolis or Necropolis of Portus in the Isola Sacra was the first large-scale

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

of Roman Imperial times to be excavated. The excavator-in-chief of most of Isola Sacra was

. The

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

was found on the manmade island of

Isola Sacra Isola Sacra (the Holy Isle) is situated in the Lazio region of Italy south of Rome, near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is part of the town of Fiumicino. Overview The area between Portus and Ostia Antica was transformed into an artificial island by Emper ...

, which lies between the cities of

Portus Portus was a large artificial harbour of Ancient Rome located at the mouth of the Tiber on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was established by Claudius and enlarged by Trajan to supplement the nearby port of Ostia. The archaeological remains of Portus a ...

and

Ostia Antica Ostia Antica () is an ancient Roman city and the port of Rome located at the mouth of the Tiber. It is near modern Ostia, southwest of Rome. Due to silting and the invasion of sand, the site now lies from the sea. The name ''Ostia'' (the pl ...

, a region just south of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. The emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

was in power when this artificial island was created. Much of the excavated necropolis flanked the

Via Severiana Via Severiana was an ancient Roman road in central Italy leading in Latium (modern Lazio), running southeast from Portus to Tarracina (passing through the Isola Sacra), a distance of 80 Roman miles (c. ) along the coast. A restoration and reunio ...

, which ran through Isola Sacra and traveled southeast from Ostica to

Terracina Terracina is an Italian city and ''comune'' of the province of Latina, located on the coast southeast of Rome on the Via Appia ( by rail). The site has been continuously occupied since antiquity. History Ancient times Terracina appears in anci ...

.White, M.L. Synagogue and Society in Imperial Ostia: Archaeological and Epigraphic Evidence. ''The Harvard Theological Review'' 1997; 90: 23-58. The cemetery was extensive, and was comparable to Etruscan cemeteries and

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

catacombs Catacombs are man-made underground passages primarily used for religious purposes, particularly for burial. Any chamber used as a burial place is considered a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etym ...

.Calza, G. La Necropoli del Porto di Roma nell'Isola Sacra ''The Journal of Roman Studies'' 1941; 31: 207-209. Although some tombs were constructed for the very poor, the majority of burials were built by the middle class

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...

of the area. Since the burial grounds were constructed during the 2nd century and first half of the 3rd century, a historical transition is seen in the necropolis from the

practice of

cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...

inhumation Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and object ...

Importance of Necropolis to Imperial Art

The necropolis also provides insight into the history of Roman Imperial Art, as

paintings Painting is a visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or " support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush. Other implements, ...

mosaics A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

, and

sculptures Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

come from 3 different imperial reigns:

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

, the Antonines, and the

Severan Dynasty The Severan dynasty, sometimes called the Septimian dynasty, ruled the Roman Empire between 193 and 235. It was founded by the emperor Septimius Severus () and Julia Domna, his wife, when Septimius emerged victorious from civil war of 193 - 197, ...

. By the first half of the 4th century, the Necropolis was abandoned, and by the 6th century, the burial grounds were covered with sand. The original inscriptions, found on marble slabs, provide information regarding the occupations of those whom the cemetery accommodated. The Necropolis housed generally humble professionals, including shopkeepers, traders, workmen, shipowners, and porters. Families, however, built very elaborate burial homes for their dead relatives despite their humble backgrounds.Strabo, V, 3, 5 The discovered tombs at Isola Sacra provide useful information regarding the study of bourgeois taste in painted walls. Besides paintings, there were numerous

found at the Necropolis, varying in artistic merit and content. Exquisite

sarcophagi A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek σάρξ ' meaning "flesh", and φ� ...

exist, including one of a child with revelling

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and very often winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University ...

, or a winged babies, and one of the Archigallus, or head priest, of the island. In contrast, simple

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

, or ceramic, reliefs have been painted on tombs to show the professions of the deceased. Non-sepulchral sculptures found in the tombs could have been family heirlooms that were hidden in the burial grounds during a time of barbarian attack.

Graeco-Oriental Influence

A great number of the inscriptions on the tombs suggest Graeco-Oriental origin. Scholars believe this is because Portus and Ostia were cosmopolitan towns where the bourgeois population was full of businessmen of non-Italian birth.Lieberman, D.E., Osteodental Biology of the People of Portus Romae ''Journal of Human Evolution'' 2000; 39:124. Latin, however, was the language that most townspeople used during the time that the necropolis was built. Nonetheless, the presence of Graeco-Oriental inscriptions, along with Isola Sacra tombs that resembled

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

tombs of

Petra Petra (; "Rock"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu (Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: or , *''Raqēmō''), is an ancient city and archaeological site in southern Jordan. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit systems, P ...

, suggests Roman naturalization of foreign influence, which was prominent in the Empire.

References

Cemeteries in Italy Religion in the Roman Empire Archaeological sites in Lazio