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TheVia Portuensis was anancient Roman road, leading to thePortus constructed byClaudius on the right bank of theTiber, at its mouth. It started from thePons Aemilius, and the first part of its course is identical with that of theVia Campana. ThePorta Portuensis of theAurelian Walls had a double arch, probably owing to the amount of traffic it had to carry, but the divergence occurred a good deal further on, probably a mile from the gate. The Via Portuensis went to the right into hilly country, while the Via Campana kept to the valley of the Tiber. The roads rejoined at the modernPonte Galeria.
With the growth of importance of the Via Portuensis from the time ofConstantine onwards, that of theVia Ostiensis correspondingly decreased.Procopius, who describes how barges were dragged up the river by teams of oxen moving along it, must be describing the towpath, and not either the Via Portuensis or even the Via Campana, which is in many places at quite a considerable distance from the winding course of the river.
Its large amounts of traffic caused the road to be eventually reconstructed with two parallel roads: one for traffic going one way and the other for traffic going the other. It is considered to have been the world's firstdual carriageway.
TodayRome'sVia Portuense follows a similar path. The road starts today from thePorta Portese and, after Ponte Galeria, ends in thecomune ofFiumicino.
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