Ostia Antica: archaeological site

The archaeological site of Ostia Antica offers a unique opportunity to complete the image of the ancient city by exploring the aspect of daily life, otherwise difficult to identify among the great public monuments of capital.

Founded around the 4th century BC as a military base between the mouth of the Tiber and the coast, Ostia soon became the commercial port of ancient Rome and for this reason was tightly connected to its history. The goods destined to the support of the capital, but also to its urban development and entertainment industry, came through here. Grain, oil, wine, precious marble, animals for the circus, arrived here from all over the Mediterranean, and were often transferred onto smaller boats that went up the river hauled by oxen on the river banks, up to the port in Rome.

It is easy to imagine Ostia as a thriving town of 60,000 people as we walk through the rather well preserved remains of the forum, the baths, temples, and residential neighbourhoods that must have housed many foreigners as well. Among the sites that deserve to be seen, are the ancient theatre, still in use today, and the Square of the Guilds, a structure consisting of 60 representative offices of the different associations of artisans and merchants who worked here. The existence of Ostia was not interrupted suddenly as occurred in Pompeii; its decline coincided with that of Rome but was made worse by the gradual silting up of the port and by floods that changed the course of the Tiber, favouring the spreading of malaria. Ostia was never inhabited again in a significant manner after that, and this allows us to follow the various phases in the evolution of an ancient city without the adding of structures from later times.

The visit is made especially pleasant by the extraordinary natural context, a fundamental element in the perception of the romantic charm of ruins that was highly appreciated by 19th century travellers. Even here Nature seems to almost regain possession of the space taken up by the work of man, creating a landscape that communicates a strong sense of the ineluctable passing of time.Ostia Antica can be reached easily by the train to Ostia Lido that departs from Porta San Paolo (Ostia Antica stop).

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