IT SEEMED LIKE THE ROMAN GODS had conspired to keep us from visiting Ostia Antica. It was closed in 2012 due to snowy weather the first time we tried. Yesterday we again took the metro and a train to the site only to learn tickets were available only by credit card—cash not accepted. Savvy travelers, we had locked the cards, passports and such in the room and I carried only the day’s cash. Luckily we convinced another couple to buy our tickets in exchange for cash.
Ostia and the Tiber (then and now)
Ostia Antica, literally “ancient mouth,” was Rome’s chief port on the Tiber during Caesar’s day. It continued to develop in the 1st Century under Tiberius and by the end of the 2nd Century Ostia had a population of nearly 100,000. Eventually the sands of time (or the silts of river?) caught up with the city. The Tiber changed course, the harbor became un-navigable and the port was moved to—where else?—Portus.
Care and Cleaning of Mosaics
Ostia Antica had everything you would expect in a city of that size; a theater, apartments, temples, baths, even a communal latrine but little we hadn’t seen elsewhere. Of course we were drawn to the mosaics, mostly monochrome. Some were in pristine condition thanks to a young women—they all seem young to me—who was cleaning 2000 year-old works of art. She told me, yes, she did love her job! With the number of mosaics in Ostia Antica I believe she has job security.
Welcome to Ostia, Entrance Gate
The main drag, Decumanus Maximus, stretches into the distance with numerous shops, side streets, temples and grain warehouses branching off. Much was roped off and we often found ourselves in a labyrinth of blind alleys and dead ends. There were several surprises, though.
Firemen's Barracks where they kept "vigil"
Sacrifice of a Bull, Altar in Firemen's Barracks
One thing we had never seen before was the fire brigades barracks. These vigiles worked mainly at night keeping vigil over the city. That’s when fires were lit and accidents happened even in antiquity—remember Nero and his fiddle?. The vigiles even had their own temple with a fantastic mosaic of a bull sacrifice.
Are you ready to rumble?
Another place with great mosaics was the Palestra, a boxing and wrestling school. It shows men boxing with spiked gloves while other men wrestled. Those old Romans make the WWF and UFC look like a sissies.
Mosaic at Bath of the Coachmen
Neptune's Bath
Judging by the number of baths Ostians were a clean bunch. Baths of the Coachmen near the entrance had some especially interesting mosaics as did the Baths of Neptune with its serpents. And just across from the Baths of Mithras squats the well-preserved communal latrine!
Public Latrine—No Sh*t
As you would expect in a prosperous port city there were numerous storefronts and warehouses and even an area of half-buried amphorae. Besides being a vessel for storing grain and wine and oil, amphora is—and I quote—an “ancient Roman unit of capacity for grain and liquid products equal to 48 sextarii and equivalent to about 27.84 litres (7.36 U.S. gallons). And speaking of liquids, Ostia Antica is the only time we’ve seen something described as a “wine bar.”
From amphora to Wine Bar
All these Ostians had to live somewhere and this is the first time we’ve seen intact, multi-storey apartment blocks still standing. The wealthy bosses lived in villas, their version of today’s McMansion. We did notice the absence of marble even in the wealthier sections. It seems those pesky Pisans and Orivietans nicked it all for their cities.
Apartment Block
Roman Villa
By the time we had covered all 50 acres we had walked over six-miles according to Connie’s iPhone ap, mostly on uneven cobbles. It was getting cold, we were hungry and we still had an hour’s trip back home. A pretty good day, all in all.
