Vicus Habentia (Comacchio)
About
Scattered river-mouth settlements including the vicus of Habentia dotted this Po delta lagoon system, an area recognized as a salt supplier to northern Italy since antiquity. Roman-era reclamation turned the shallow stagnant waters of the delta into a working salt landscape alongside fishing grounds. By 117 CE the lagoon communities here had produced salt for the region for generations, part of the same Adriatic tradition as nearby Cervia.
What happened here
Shallow pans are cut into the flats behind a beach or a lagoon and filled at high tide through a gate. The water is walked through a sequence of pans, each shallower and saltier than the last, and the sun does the rest over the summer. In late season the crust is raked into ridges, left to drain, then carried off in baskets. The work is hot, glaring and hard on the feet, and it is done by contracted labour on a short season. Salt preserves fish and meat, cures hides and pays part of the state's revenue, so the pans are regulated and often leased from the state. A salina needs sun, wind and a tide, and it shuts down entirely when it rains.
Sources
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →