Ostia Antica, Rome's Pompeii

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WHERE NOW | ARCHEOLOGY Ostia Antica, Rome’s Pompeii

BY TIFFANY PARKS

CAPITOLIUM

s Rome was growing into the most impor- Ostia flourished under a number of Roman tant city in the world, the nearby seaside emperors: Caligula established the water supply, Atown of Ostia was developing apace, to Claudius formed the fire brigade, Antoninus Pius become the official port of ancient Rome. To- built the bath complex, and Maxentius founded day, this well-preserved ancient city is the clo- the mint in AD 309. It was a thriving, mostly wor- sest image of what Rome must have looked like king-class city, but in the centuries that followed, at the height of its power. At just 20 kilometers pirates, Vandals, Goths, and Saracens arrived, from Rome, Ostia provides curious visitors with sacking and looting everything they could get a convenient way to witness and explore the their hands on, and the city was eventually aban- everyday life—as if frozen in time—of a Roman doned in the 9th century. city. So much so that it has earned the nickname Nearly a millennium later, excavations were "Rome’s Pompeii." begun by 19th-century popes, and continued all The name Ostia comes from the Latin word the way to the time of Mussolini, when the most ostium, or mouth, in this context of the Tiber Ri- thorough digs took place. The result is an extra- ver, which reached the Tyrrhenian Sea adjacent ordinary archaeological site—one of the largest to the city. The earliest vestiges of the city’s foun- and most important in the country—that can dations date back to 355 BC, when the Romans be visited with an easy day trip from Rome. It is took control of the coastal outlet after having even more alluring considering that no ancient defeated the inhabitants of Veio and Anzio. But site in the city of Rome has been conserved so it was the city’s use as a port, from which goods completely. could be easily taken in and out of Rome along Your visit starts at Porta Romana, where Via the Tiber, that Ostia rapidly developed into a city Ostiense (a street that still today leads all the way of exceptional importance. It reached its apex in to Rome) comes to an end, and the Decumanus the 2nd century AD under emperors Trajan and Maximus—Ostia’s “main street” that crosses the Hadrian, when it had a population estimated at city from east to west—begins. Next up are the INSULA DELLE MUSE APOLLO between 60,000 to 80,000. Baths of the Cisiarii, featuring a beautiful mosaic

22 WHERE ROME I OCTOBER 2017 AMORE E PSICHE

floor illustra- ligious creeds. FLOOR MOSAICS ting scenes In fact, here of the lives of you can find the eponymous the oldest syna- carters, complete gogue of the We- with the names of stern world, dating their mules and other back to the 1st cen- pack animals. Don’t miss tury AD. The Persian god the Baths of Neptune, with Mithras had no fewer than a decorative black-and-white 17 sanctuaries here, and Anato- floor mosaic depicting the god dri- lian goddess Cybele, Phrygian god At- ving four seahorses. Other baths include those tis, Sabine goddess Bellona, and Greco-Egyptian of the Seven Sages, which are decorated with sa- god Serapis were also venerated here at several tirical portraits of the Greek sages with mocking places of worship. captions—a testament to the irreverent spirit of Other sites that deserve a mention include the Romans. Along the Decumanus is also the the Baths of the Forum, the House of Diana with 2500-seat theater, renovated in the 2nd century its apartments for rent, and a tavern with its ori- BC and again in the 1920s. It is still in use to this ginal marble bar and a fresco showing what was day for open-air performances during the sum- on the menu. If a visit to the archeological site mer months. Next to the theater is the Foro delle leaves you craving more, pop into the attached Corporazioni, where 70 commercial guilds from museum, which conserves the principal finds all over the world had their offices. Their trade- from the excavations, including a marble statue marks appear in the mosaic floors of the arcade, of Emperor Hadrian's wife Sabina, an altar depi- including images of boats, fish, and elephants. cting Mithras slaying a bull, and countless other Ostia was primarily a city of sailors and mer- artifacts and artworks giving witness to everyday chants, and as such, it boasted shrines to all re- life in the bustling town of Ostia.