The Roman Engineering Feat that Changed Everything | BBC Timestamp

Rome's million-plus inhabitants are super consumers. Alongside the Spanish olive oil, they're eating grain from Egypt, drinking wine from Gaul and Greece. They're using timber, marble, tin, glass, leather, and much more besides. Rome is a monster devouring everything it can get its teeth into. But this greed is a problem. How can the Romans transport all these goods into their growing city? Without a solution, they will go hungry. In 42 CE, this city puts its faith in an ambitious plan. A building project like no other. 25 kilometers away on the coast, they begin construction. On a gateway to their vast empire that grows and expands over 60 years. This is Portus, a mega harbor. And at its heart, a massive hexagonal dock. Today, it looks like the nature preserve here. 2,000 years ago, it would have been incredibly different. The level of engineering here can barely be appreciated. Built of waterproof concrete, a Roman innovation, this vast port holds 350 ships all at once. Enormous buildings. The warehouses that lined the six sides. This was a massive, massive endeavor. Every day, ships from all over the empire offload goods onto its dockside. But this harbor only solves part of Rome's import problem. Because shifting this vast quantity of goods demands a distribution network of the same enormous scale. So the Romans keep on building. At 150 hectares, Ostia is the largest remaining Roman site anywhere in the world. This entire city was built for one purpose, and that was to serve the port. This is a monument to the Roman economy. Ship owners, traders, tax inspectors, warehouse and dock workers make this bustling city their home. 30,000 people who all play their part in making Rome rich. We have a large plaza around us on three sides. 61 rooms frame it. And we would have no idea about the function of these rooms if not for these mosaics. These mosaics act as hoardings for the huge variety of goods traded here. Ears of wheat indicate imported grain. An elephant, ivory or exotic animals. And ships in the lighthouse, timber for boats. At the height of Ostia, this would have been similar to a Wall Street. All these deals being made, yelling, money exchanging hands, goods exchanging hands, all sorts of things to continue this ongoing trade so necessary to supply Rome, to feed Rome. And this is really the business end. This is where it happens. If we could have seen the city in its heyday, I think we would have been stunned at the grandiosity of it.