Spazi e attività umane lungo il Tevere e la fascia costiera laziale. Fonti cartografiche presso l’Archivio di Stato di Roma

Abstract: Navigation activities on the Tiber river are better defined within a legal rather than a natural scope, depending by the role of the river in the city’s food supply; the historical shaping of the Roman granary “district” outlines a similar difference between public or private roles for the ports along the coast. While the Adriatic provinces enjoyed relative freedom of export, the whole coast north of Fiumicino and the course of the Tiber between the mouth and Rome were subordinated to the needs of the capital; vice versa, the coastal set-tlements south of the mouth of the Tiber remained limited to a local function until the Pontine reclamation. The historical cartography in the State Archives of Rome offers a constant counterpoint to the main events of this long history, when the origin of each map is considered. This is true for all the maps and drawings illustrating the works on the lower course of the Tiber, the role as-sumed by the State for the port of Civitavecchia and the characteristics of the southern harbors.

Keywords: Tiber; Ports; Papal State; Cartography; Archive