Lots of great cities in the world, ancient and modern, are or have been great ports. Ancient Rome was not one of them. It is located 15 miles (25 km) from the coast on the Tiber river which provides its access to the sea. For much of Rome’s history its port was down the Tiber at Ostia, now Ostia Antica, a place whose ruins many compare to Pompeii. (Including us, in this title.) And so, having a bit of time on our hands, we decided last week to visit.
It was extremely easy for us to get there from Rome, requiring only a short Metro ride followed by a short ride on the coastal train. We’ve been having a lot of rain, so we had to wait for a nice day. As soon as we found one, off we went!
The earliest archaeological remains at Ostia Antica date from the late 5th/early 4th century BCE. Ostia means ‘river mouth’ but also ‘entry’. And the site originally probably had a military purpose, i.e., to guard access to the city via the river. But either at the beginning or very shortly thereafter, its economic value also became evident. It played a particularly important role in the importation of oil and grain for the Romans’ use. So one of the city’s best-known features are the ruins of large warehouses throughout. The site was was mostly abandoned at the beginning of the 5th century CE, and Saracen raids in the 9th century did it in for good.
One of the great pleasures of Ostia Antica is that you can roam the grounds freely. (This is unusual at archaeological sites.) The ruins are enormous (about 85 acres or 34 hectares). So you can find yourself meandering, as is our wont, from one building to another and even from one section of a building to another. Sometimes it’s like a giant maze! More than once we found ourselves at a dead end among the ruins and had to retrace our steps.
Once you’ve bought your ticket and entered, you begin at the eastern end of Ostia Antica and follow a long, wide (27 feet or 9 metres) straight road which was the ancient city’s main east-west road (the decumanus, as it was called). It begins with the remains of tombs on either side. As you walk on, the ruins of commercial buildings appear, and of course baths. The largest are the Baths of Neptune, so called because there is a mosaic image of him there. A raised platform allows for terrific views of the rooms and the surrounding areas.
A little further along there are wonderful remains of a theatre, built originally in the Augustan era and restored at the end of the 2nd century AD. It’s in pretty good shape, as these things go, though there is some modern reconstruction. Right behind the theatre’s stage there is the so-called Square of the Corporations, which once housed the offices of ship owners and merchants. Mosaic inscriptions on the floors document who was where. Our particular favourite was the office of the African city of Sabratha, represented by an elephant.
At the intersection of the decumanus with the main north-south road (the cardo) lie the forum and the Capitolium. The latter was a grand temple complex dedicated to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. These date from the period of Hadrian (ruled 117-138) who did a great deal of building at Ostia Antica (as he did elsewhere!). There are also smaller buildings, including a much earlier temple to Rome and Augustus, built under Tiberius.
Our main disappointment on the visit was that they are currently restoring the Museum. We probably should have checked before visiting, but we would have gone anyway. The thing is that as you’re walking along, the signs will often call your attention to a particularly wonderful artwork which they tell you is in the Museum – so our hopes were high. So we had to console ourselves with some refreshment from the café, which was very much open.
There was much more to see but we had been there for several hours and the sun had pretty much exhausted us. So we headed back to Rome, making a mental note to find out when that museum will reopen.
