Roman Harbour

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 A crucial element for the city's economy is the harbour's continually changing position and size. As for the rather controversial question of the Roman port of the city, it is likely that the colony used small stopovers, located at the mouth of the Fusandola or that of the Irno, then located about half a kilometer further inland, in a small inlet between the western side of the Bellara hill (better known as Masso della Signora) and the eastern line of the modern city. 

At the Fusandola stream, scattered necropolises from the Archaic and Samnite periods are witnessed, relating to sedentary nuclei placed to control the passage of an important coastal artery.

The river Irno in pre-Roman times was certainly endowed with a much wider flow than the current one and therefore it was certainly navigable; it is therefore assumed the existence of some port docks at the service of the Etruscan center, which can be located along the watercourse at the height of today's Chalcedon district. It is likely that some structures remained standing after the abandonment of Fratte and was recovered and reused by the Roman colonists at the time of the deduction of the colony. 

The contribution of some archaeological finds has made it possible to clarify the evolution and modifications of the sea level. Some Roman necropolises, identified along today's axis of Corso Vittorio Emanuele and in Piazza Vittorio Veneto, have provided new data for the reconstruction of the morphology of the coast. The tombs of the necropolis, identified in 1948 in Piazza Vittorio Veneto, lay at a depth of about 6 m with respect to the current floor. It should also be noted that at the time of operation of the necropolis the sea level was at a lower altitude than the current one, with a much more extensive development of the beach.

In conclusion, wherever the Roman port was located, we cannot suppose its continuous presence from the 2nd century BC. until the late imperial age, but necessarily think of an alternation between active and passive periods, between constructions and reconstructions, an alternation that had heavily negative consequences on the city economy.

In this sense, the mouth of the Fusandola could represent a probable landing place -a real canal port- probably functioning since the early Middle Ages. It is no coincidence that the Amalfitani district was then located near this estuary, the current Fornelle district, which settled in Salerno at the behest of the Lombard prince Sicardo for the express purpose of promoting the city's mercantile activities.

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