Picture By M Streich

 Ostia is outside of Rime, in Pristine condition, rarely crowded, and a better altermative to Pompeii.

For almost six hundred years, the Roman port of Ostia served as the chief conduit of trade between Rome and the rest of the Mediterranean world. According to historian Michael Grant, “Ostia…handled the largest volume of goods of any Mediterranean port except Alexandria.” Ostia’s growth began in the pre-Republican period, emerging in the second century AD as a flourishing commercial city of over 50,000 inhabitants. Today, the ancient ruins demonstrate that Ostia was one of the most diverse cities of the Roman World.

 

The Early Years of Ostia

 

Ostia was founded in the fourth century by the Roman King Ancus Marcius, although Grant attributes the founding to a later king, Servius Tullius. The initial encampment was tied to the exploitation of the salt beds at the mouth of the Tiber. The name Ostia comes from ostium, meaning the river mouth.

 

At the start of the Republic, the Romans established a military colony at Ostia after destroying Ficano and defeating the Etruscans at Veii in 396 BC. The fortress built on the site of the future metropolis was designed to protect against invasion from Greek and Syracusian forces as well as dealing with piracy.

 

Growth and Commercialization of Ostia

 

During the Punic Wars, Ostia served as the chief naval port for Roman fleets. It was from Ostia that Cornelius Scipio sailed with his legions to Spain. With Rome’s victory over Carthage after the Third Punic War, Ostia became the chief element in Rome’s mastery of the Mediterranean, and through its port the many imports so important to the Roman lifestyle and wellbeing would flow.

 

Poor harbor conditions forced the construction of a new port, Portus, not far from the city. Although originally advocated by Julius Caesar, the new facilities were begun during the reign of the Emperor Claudius and eventually fully completed by Trajan and Hadrian. The new port dramatically increased the commercial prospects of Ostia, causing a building spree that could only be described as a miniature Rome. Public buildings, numerous baths, and the building of merchant associations complemented the rows of 4-5 story homes making up the city.

 

V. Santa Maria Scrinari argues that this period, the vibrant second century, defined patterns of urbanization and methods of building that allow contemporary historians and archaeologists the ability to fully appreciate Roman imperial living. Lionel Casson agrees, contrasting the ruins of Pompeii with those of Ostia. While Pompeii represented an agricultural city, Ostia’s characterizations are more far-reaching in terms of imperial urban life.

 

Scrinari states that “the surviving architecture…represents the nearest we come to a typical example of a Roman town.” Contributing to this representation is the rich diversity of people, mostly middle-class, as evidenced by tomb depictions in the Ostia necropolis. Images of various ancient world gods and goddesses attest to the multi-cultural nature of the Ostia community. Ostia even had a sizeable Jewish community.

 

Decline of Ostia

 

Although Ostia’s commercial decline may be linked to third century troubles felt universally through the empire, it was Constantine’s moving the imperial capital to the East that ultimately ended the traffic flowing through the city. In the late 5^th century Vandals sacked Ostia and as Christians began to build great edifices in Rome, the city was plundered of its stone, notably marble. St. Peter’s Basilica contains marble carted from the ruins at Ostia.

 

The great harbor, silted over, lays beneath Leonardo da Vinci Airport at Fiumicino, while only half of the city – 80 acres, have been excavated. Ostia is only 15 miles from Rome and, unlike Pompeii, does not see throngs of tourists. This is a great pity, because Ostia offers a glimpse into a very cosmopolitan Roman past.

 

Sources:

 

Lionel Casson, Everyday Life in Ancient Rome (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998) see chapter 7.

Michael Grant, History of Rome (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1978).

Michael Grant, The Ancient Mediterranean (History Book Club, by arrangement with Plume, member of Penguin Putnam, 1969) p 291.

Angelo Pellegrino, Ostia Antica (Rome: Soprintendenza Archeologica di Ostia, 2001).

V. Santa Maria Scrinari, Ancient Ostia (Rome: Vision S.r.l., 1981).