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Portus Julius (alternatively spelled in the Latin "Iulius") was the home port for the Roman western imperial fleet, the classis Misenensis, named for nearby Cape Miseno. (The eastern fleet was in the Port of Ravenna.) The port was located at the western end of the gulf of Naples and other than the waters of the bay, itself, consisted of three bodies of water in the area: Lake Lucrino, Lake Averno, and the natural inner and outer harbor behind Cape Misenum. The port was named for Augustus.[1]
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To counter the frequent raids on Italy and upon the shipping routes for Rome's grain supply conducted by Sextus Pompeius (the younger son of Pompey the Great), Marcus Agrippa constructed a safe naval harbour from which to conduct a naval campaign against Sextus. It was constructed from 37-36BC and named Portus Iulius in honour of Agrippa's friend and patron Octavian (later Augustus). Shortly after the successful conclusion of the war with Sextus it was abandoned, owing to the piling up of silt compromising its navigability. Nearby Misenum became the naval base for the Western Mediterranean. [2]
The Romans built new breakwaters and a freshwater reservoir, the Piscina Mirabilis, of unparalleled size. It was fed by the Aqua Augusta (Naples), an aqueduct which also supplied Pompeii.
The outer harbor behind Cape Misenum served the active vessels of the Roman navy and provided room for training exercises, while its inner counterpart (to which it was connected by a canal crossed by a wooden bridge) was designed for the reserve fleet and for repairs, and as a refuge from storms. Because of its location, the area controlled the entire Italian west coast, the islands and the Straits of Messina.
The waters of Portus Julius may still be seen today, though in somewhat abridged fashion: one of the three original lakes of the Roman port, Lake Lucrino, was greatly reduced in size by the volcanic appearance of a large hill in the middle of the lake in the 16th century, a hill now called "Monte Nuovo" (New Mountain). Shifting coastlines over the centuries have also put a number of the original harbour facilities under water; some of them may be seen from glass-bottom boats or by scuba-diving.