Geology, Materials, and the Design of the Roman Harbour of Soli-Pompeiopolis, Turkey: the ROMACONS field campaign of August 2009

Harbour of Soli-Pompeiopolis: recent underwater archaeological research

“…This valuable work undoubtedly shed light on some aspects of harbour construction. The two curved moles are described as 320m long, each wall being c .23m wide and set 180m apart (Brandon et al ., : 391), which matches Vann's earlier plan of the harbour, with a total width of 227m (Fig. b).…”

“…The reconstruction in the ROMACONS final publication portrays two symmetrical, curved moles of equal length with the entrance to the south (Brandon et al ., , 392, fig. ; Brandon et al ., : 96, fig.…”

“…A variety of studies were conducted at Soli in 2009 within the Roman Maritime Concrete Study (ROMACONS) project carried out by C. Brandon and his team (Brandon et al ., : 390–399; Brandon et al ., : 195–198; Brandon et al ., : 94–101). Brandon suggests the earliest settlement was probably a river harbour with alluvial deposits slowly pushing the shoreline to the south, and that the harbour was constructed in the Hellenistic period and revised by Romans (Brandon et al ., : 94–95).…”

The Roman Lighthouse at Akko, Israel

“…2d), a place which had some importance in seafaring during Roman times (Magie, 1950: 275; Robert, 1973). Pompeiopolis (Soli) also has a small lighthouse shown on a Roman coin (Boyce, 1958; Brandon et al ., 2010: 392). Two man‐made moles there, similar to the depiction on the coin, survived until just before 1826 (Purdey, 1826: 307).…”

“…However, such a small, atypical lighthouse on a Roman coin depicting a harbour, minted in the Levant, was dealt with while discussing differences between an altar and lighthouse as seen on coins, the same problem discussed here. It was concluded that a small structure on the end of a quay on a coin depicting the port of Roman Pompeiopolis (Solis) could have been a small lighthouse (Boyce, 1958: 68; Brandon et al ., 2010: 392). That tentative, careful interpretation of a scene on a coin, and the present discussion are mutually supportive and should indicate that such small lighthouses, near the entrance, existed at some Roman harbours.…”