Ostia Antica showed up on my radar while searching "Daytrips from Rome" and it proved to be quite a gem (Thank you Internet!)
Once a bustling harbour town, it was eventually abandoned due to a shift in the coastline, similar to another famous ancient city, Ephesus in Turkey.
Only a 30 minutes journey from Roma central by train, both the site and transport were covered by the Roma Pass. A double bonus!
The train ride from the Piramide/Porta San Paolo station wasn't particularly scenic, since the Roma-Lido line is more of a suburban route.
Plus, Rome has a very serious (and visually-unappealing) graffiti problem.
If the tv show Rome can be trusted for historical accuracy, graffiti in Rome has been a long-held practice. I just wish there could be more graffiti art than the random taggings we saw all over town.
Just outside the city gate is the Necropolis, the city cemetery. I'm trying to imagine travelling to ancient Ostia and passing by a huge graveyard before you even enter the city. It's a little spooky right (especially late at night)? Or is that just my own idiosyncrasies acting up? The Romans did both cremations and burials, depending on the period, hence the wall enclaves for the ashes.
Once a bustling harbour town, it was eventually abandoned due to a shift in the coastline, similar to another famous ancient city, Ephesus in Turkey.
Only a 30 minutes journey from Roma central by train, both the site and transport were covered by the Roma Pass. A double bonus!
The train ride from the Piramide/Porta San Paolo station wasn't particularly scenic, since the Roma-Lido line is more of a suburban route.Plus, Rome has a very serious (and visually-unappealing) graffiti problem.
If the tv show Rome can be trusted for historical accuracy, graffiti in Rome has been a long-held practice. I just wish there could be more graffiti art than the random taggings we saw all over town.
Beautiful cypress trees welcoming us to the ancient port city. Always a good sign when the site entrance is well-maintained.
Porta Romana
The main gate to the city.
Base of a statue that used to stand by the gate.
The inscription "SALVTI CAESARIS AVGVST GLABRIO PATRONVS COLONIAE D(ecreto) D(ecurionum) F(aciundum) C(uravit)"
which reads,
"To the health of Caesar August, Glabrio, patronus of the colony, had this made by decree of the decurions"
Google Translator, by the way, needs serious work on their Latin translations.
Remnants of the porticoed shops that used to line the main street (Decumanus Maximus). When it came to colonial urban planning, the Romans approached it with an uniformity also observed in their military.
A grid formation, with two major streets intersecting at a central square (forum).
We ended our tour with a visit to the always-fascinating latrines. And since the ancient Romans didn't have toilet paper, slaves cleaned the "patrons" with sponges on sticks. I am going to assume that the sponges were not reused. Because otherwise, it's just gross and not to mention unhygienic.
I finally got the chance to use Rick Steve's audioguide here and while the information provided was certainly interesting, I found it a little too simplistic. And the scripted banter between Rick Steve and the local guide got tiresome very quickly.
We pretty much covered most of the highlights listed in the tourist guide during our two-plus hour walk. Although in reality, we probably only covered 1/10-1/20 of the entire town.
Excavation and restoration are ongoing, so hopefully I'll get to revisit and explore the site in more depth.
Post-script:
General overview and highlights - http://www.ostia-antica.org/touristguide.pdf
Detailed descriptions of buildings - http://www.ostia-antica.org/dict.htm
Fair warning, if you enjoy reading about archaeological sites, be prepared to lose hours of your life just browsing. I've already bookmarked this website for later reading. I don't know whether to be happy or sad that they provide a ranking of the buildings (Gold - must-sees; Silver - worth a visit; and Bronze - of minor interest). If I had been aware of this list beforehand, my travel companions would have had a very difficult time convincing me to leave after just two hours.
which reads,
"To the health of Caesar August, Glabrio, patronus of the colony, had this made by decree of the decurions"
Google Translator, by the way, needs serious work on their Latin translations.
Dedication on the gate.
"SENATVS POPVLVSQVE ROMANVS/COLONIAE OSTIENSIVM MVROS ET PORTAS DEDIT/M. TVLLIVS CICERO CO(n)S(ul) FECIT CVRAVITQUE/P. CLODIVS PVLCHER TR(ibunus) PL(ebis) CONSVMMAVIT ET PROBAVIT/ PORTAM VETVSTATE CORRVPTAM"
"The Senate of Rome gave walls and gates to the colony of the Ostians; Cicero, when he was consul, oversaw the constructions; Clodius, arch-enemy of Cicero, finished the work when he was tribune of the people."
An artist's rendering of what the gate used to look like.
Warehouses
Remnants of the porticoed shops that used to line the main street (Decumanus Maximus). When it came to colonial urban planning, the Romans approached it with an uniformity also observed in their military.A grid formation, with two major streets intersecting at a central square (forum).
The spectacular mosaic floor of the Baths of Neptune. Just to give a sense of scale, this photo was taken from two stories up and my camera still couldn't capture the entire image.
The rest of the bath, with another mosaic floor partially covered for restoration. You can (and should) check out the other mosaics here.
More shops...
The amazing preserved (and/or restored) Theatre.
Note that only the first few VIP rows get the marble seats.
Square of the Corporations/Guilds (Piazzale delle Corporazioni)
The rooms surrounding the square are thought to be commercial offices.
The interesting part of these "office spaces" are the floor mosaics in front of each, showing their respective trades. A form of advertisement, if you will.
A lot of ship and dolphin motifs.
The exotic animals trade perhaps? Or ivory?
You know a site is worth visiting when school groups show up in droves.
An offering altar (replica) in the Square of Corporations.
House of the Millstones
It looked like a mini-factory, with multiple millstones and giant stone bowls, which were part of "kneading machines", according to the online reference guide.
A side-street. Very impressed at the straightness of the streets and buildings. And most of these buildings would have been at least two stories tall.
House of the Wine-bar...
...complete with a fresco promising food, wine, entertainment....
...and its own patio section. I wonder if it cost extra to sit outside like it does in modern Rome?
Photos taken from the top of an apartment complex (who knew ancient Rome had apartment complexes!?! I certainly didn't. And these apartment were tall, at least 3 stories. Oh, to be able to travel back in time to Rome's glory days...)
On our way to the on-site museum, we came across this. A storage facility - the jars were deliberately buried in the ground probably for temperature control.
Overall, I wasn't too impressed by the Ostia Antica museum but understandably so - it was hard to top our morning visit to the Capitoline Museum. Plus, I'm sure the horde of schoolkids rampaging through the rooms didn't help. (Aside: couldn't help but notice that all the kids' phones and cameras were better than mine.)
Still, the museum offered a nice, A/C-ed (unusual for an Italian museum) break.
Capitolium.
Built by emperor Hadrian (yay!), this was the primary temple of the city and dedicated to the god trio Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva
Forum
Directly facing the Capitolium was a temple dedicated to Rome and the emperor Augustus.
We ended our tour with a visit to the always-fascinating latrines. And since the ancient Romans didn't have toilet paper, slaves cleaned the "patrons" with sponges on sticks. I am going to assume that the sponges were not reused. Because otherwise, it's just gross and not to mention unhygienic.I finally got the chance to use Rick Steve's audioguide here and while the information provided was certainly interesting, I found it a little too simplistic. And the scripted banter between Rick Steve and the local guide got tiresome very quickly.
We pretty much covered most of the highlights listed in the tourist guide during our two-plus hour walk. Although in reality, we probably only covered 1/10-1/20 of the entire town.
Excavation and restoration are ongoing, so hopefully I'll get to revisit and explore the site in more depth.
Post-script:
General overview and highlights - http://www.ostia-antica.org/touristguide.pdf
Detailed descriptions of buildings - http://www.ostia-antica.org/dict.htm
Fair warning, if you enjoy reading about archaeological sites, be prepared to lose hours of your life just browsing. I've already bookmarked this website for later reading. I don't know whether to be happy or sad that they provide a ranking of the buildings (Gold - must-sees; Silver - worth a visit; and Bronze - of minor interest). If I had been aware of this list beforehand, my travel companions would have had a very difficult time convincing me to leave after just two hours.
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