fbpx

Ostia Antica

Posted by on Feb 20, 2008 in Blog | No Comments

The Lux has arrived! We discovered our new system whenever people fly in to Fiumicino: we’ll keep them awake by immediately taking them to the most amazing ruins in Rome: Ostia Antica. Located at the ancient mouth of the River Tiber (ostium means mouth), Ostia was said to have been founded by Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome, in the 4th century BC.

Originally, Ostia was a military town– a fort built around the mouth of the Tiber , the entry point for hostile armies. [Over time, the Tiber moved and the river is no longer running next to the ruins.] Once the area was secure militarily, Ostia became an important commercial center, swelling to 50,000 in the early Imperial period.

Ostia itself was provided with all the services a town of the time could require; in particular, a famous lighthouse. By 1954 eighteen mithraea had also been discovered: Mithras had his largest following among the working population that were the majority of this port town. Archaeologists also discovered the public latrinæ, organized for collective use as a series of seats that allow us to imagine today that the function was also a social moment! In addition, Ostia had a large theatre, many public baths, numerous taverns, inns, and a firefighting service.

With the end of the Roman Empire, Ostia fell slowly into decay, and was finally abandoned in the 9th century AD due to the repeated invasions and sackings by pirates. In the Middle Ages, bricks from buildings in Ostia were used for several other occasions: It’s rumored that the Leaning Tower of Pisa was entirely built of material originally belonging to Ostia. Over time, the town was buried in silt from the Tiber. The silt was a great preservative and that’s why so much of this city remains.

This is the best preserved working town (the other two well preserved Roman cities – Pompeii and Herculaneum – were aristocratic vacation spots); much of what we know today about life of the working class come from the remains of Ostia.

We made a picnic.

Birthday Girl and her pal visiting from Amsterdam.

The Lux basks in the fact that an hour after she landed in Italy she was sitting in the midst of Roman ruins, drinking wine, and fresh mozzarella.

I was overwhelmed by the beauty of it all.

The Lux. on the other hand, was workin’ it.

After all this we went to the Lindt chocolate store.
Woah.

Another recent arrival: another daughter for our graphic designer. There’s some cuteness overload going on in this pic!The Lux has arrived! We discovered our new system whenever people fly in to Fiumicino: we’ll keep them awake by immediately taking them to the most amazing ruins in Rome: Ostia Antica. Located at the ancient mouth of the River Tiber (ostium means mouth), Ostia was said to have been founded by Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome, in the 4th century BC.

Originally, Ostia was a military town– a fort built around the mouth of the Tiber , the entry point for hostile armies. [Over time, the Tiber moved and the river is no longer running next to the ruins.] Once the area was secure militarily, Ostia became an important commercial center, swelling to 50,000 in the early Imperial period.

Ostia itself was provided with all the services a town of the time could require; in particular, a famous lighthouse. By 1954 eighteen mithraea had also been discovered: Mithras had his largest following among the working population that were the majority of this port town. Archaeologists also discovered the public latrinæ, organized for collective use as a series of seats that allow us to imagine today that the function was also a social moment! In addition, Ostia had a large theatre, many public baths, numerous taverns, inns, and a firefighting service.

With the end of the Roman Empire, Ostia fell slowly into decay, and was finally abandoned in the 9th century AD due to the repeated invasions and sackings by pirates. In the Middle Ages, bricks from buildings in Ostia were used for several other occasions: It’s rumored that the Leaning Tower of Pisa was entirely built of material originally belonging to Ostia. Over time, the town was buried in silt from the Tiber. The silt was a great preservative and that’s why so much of this city remains.

This is the best preserved working town (the other two well preserved Roman cities – Pompeii and Herculaneum – were aristocratic vacation spots); much of what we know today about life of the working class come from the remains of Ostia.

We made a picnic.

Birthday Girl and her pal visiting from Amsterdam.

The Lux basks in the fact that an hour after she landed in Italy she was sitting in the midst of Roman ruins, drinking wine, and fresh mozzarella.

I was overwhelmed by the beauty of it all.

The Lux. on the other hand, was workin’ it.

After all this we went to the Lindt chocolate store.
Woah.

Another recent arrival: another daughter for our graphic designer. There’s some cuteness overload going on in this pic!

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.