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Ostia Antica ("Ancient Ostia") is a large archaeological site, close to the modern town of
Ostia Ostia may refer to: Places *Ostia (Rome), a municipio (also called ''Ostia Lido'' or ''Lido di Ostia'') of Rome *Ostia Antica, a township and port of ancient Rome *Ostia Antica (district), a district of the commune of Rome Arts and entertainment ...
, that is the location of the
harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...
city of
ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–50 ...
, 25 kilometres (15 miles) southwest of Rome. "Ostia" (plur. of "ostium") is a derivation of "os", the Latin word for "mouth". At the mouth of the River Tiber, Ostia was Rome's seaport, but due to silting the site now lies from the sea. The site is noted for the excellent preservation of its ancient buildings, magnificent frescoes and impressive
mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
s.


History


Origins

Ostia may have been Rome's first '' colonia''. According to legend, Ancus Marcius, the fourth
king of Rome The king of Rome ( la, rex Romae) was the ruler of the Roman Kingdom. According to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus, who founded the city in 753 BC upon the Palatine Hill. Seven legendary kings are said to have ruled Rome until 509 ...
, was the first to destroy Ficana, an ancient town that was only from Rome and had a small harbour on the
Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Ri ...
, and then proceeded with establishing the new colony further west and closer to the sea coast. An inscription seems to confirm the establishment of the old ''
castrum In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...
'' of Ostia in the 7th century BC. The oldest archaeological remains so far discovered date back to only the 4th century BC. The most ancient buildings currently visible are from the 3rd century BC, notably the ''Castrum'' (military camp); of a slightly later date is the ''Capitolium'' (temple of
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandt ...
, Juno and
Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the R ...
). The '' opus quadratum'' of the walls of the original ''castrum'' at Ostia provide important evidence for the building techniques that were employed in Roman urbanisation during the period of the Middle Republic.


Civil wars

Ostia was a scene of fighting during the period of civil wars in the 80s BC. In 87 BC, Marius attacked the city in order to cut off the flow of trade to Rome. Forces led by Cinna,
Carbo Carbo or accented Carbó may refer to Places * Carbó Municipality, a municipality in Sonora, Mexico ** Carbó, the municipal seat of Carbó Municipality, Sonora, Mexico * Enrique Carbó, Argentina, a village and municipality in Entre Ríos Provinc ...
and Sertorius crossed the Tiber at three points before capturing the city and plundering it. After his victory here, Marius moved on to attack and capture Antium, Aricia and Lanuvium to further destroy the foodstores of Rome.


Sacking by pirates

In 68 BC, the town was sacked by
pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
s. During the sack, the port was set on fire, the consular war fleet was destroyed, and two prominent senators were kidnapped. This attack caused such panic in Rome that Pompey the Great arranged for the tribune Aulus Gabinius to rise in the Roman Forum and propose a law, the '' lex Gabinia'', to allow Pompey to raise an army and destroy the pirates. Within a year, the pirates had been defeated. The town was then re-built, and provided with protective walls by the statesman and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero.


Imperial Ostia

During Julius Caesar's time as
dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in ti ...
, one of his improvements to the city was his establishment of better supervision of the supply of grain to Rome. He proposed better access to grain by the use of a new harbour in Ostia along with a
canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface fl ...
from Tarracina. The town was further developed during the first century AD under the influence of
Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
, who ordered the building of the town's first
Forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses *Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...
. The town was also soon enriched by the construction of a new harbour on the northern mouths of the Tiber (which reaches the sea with a larger mouth in Ostia, ''Fiumara Grande'', and a narrower one near to the current Fiumicino International Airport). The new harbor, not surprisingly called Portus, from the Latin for "harbour", was excavated by order of the
Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( e ...
Claudius. This harbour became silted up, and needed to be supplemented later by a harbour built by
Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presid ...
finished in the year 113 AD; it has a hexagonal form, in order to reduce the erosive forces of the waves. Moreover, at a relatively short distance, there was also the harbour of Civitavecchia (''Centum Cellae''). These elements took business away from Ostia itself and began its commercial decline. In 2008, British archaeologists discovered the remains of the widest canal ever built by the Romans, 300 feet wide, which they believe ran from Portus across the Isola Sacra to the Tiber opposite Ostia, which would have made the transport of large quantities of goods far easier than by land transport. In 2014, ruins were discovered on the north side of the river opposite the city, indicating a large built-up area with a massive structure. Within its walls, Ostia covered an area of 69 hectares, or 173 acres. During the 4th century, the city spilled over the southern walls to the sea south of Regioni III and IV on the map. Ostia itself was provided with all the services a town of the time could require; in particular, a famous lighthouse. The popularity of the cult of Mithras is evident in the discovery of eighteen Mithraea. Archaeologists have also discovered the public ''
latrina A latrine is a toilet or an even simpler facility that is used as a toilet within a sanitation system. For example, it can be a communal trench in the earth in a camp to be used as emergency sanitation, a hole in the ground (pit latrine), or m ...
e'', organised for collective use as a series of seats that allow us to imagine today that their function was also a social one. Ostia had a large theatre, many public baths (such as the Thermae Gavii Maximi, or Baths at Ostia), numerous taverns and inns and a firefighting service. Ostia also contained the
Ostia Synagogue The Ostia Synagogue is an ancient synagogue located in ancient Ostia, the seaport of Imperial Rome. It is one of the oldest synagogues in the world, the oldest synagogue in Europe and the oldest mainstream Jewish synagogue yet uncovered outside ...
, the earliest synagogue yet identified in Europe, Its excavation in 1960–61 changed the historical narrative for many academics.


Surroundings

South of Ostia there were many rich villa-estates along the coast road to Laurentum. Pliny described the route towards his villa there: “There are two different roads to it: if you go by that of Laurentum, you must turn off at the fourteenth mile-stone; if by that of Ostia, at the eleventh. Both of them are sandy in places, which makes it a little heavier and longer by carriage, but short and easy on horseback. The landscape affords plenty of variety, the view in some places being closed in by woods, in others extending over broad meadows, where numerous flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, which the severity of the winter has driven from the mountains, fatten in the spring warmth, and on the rich pasturage”. Today several well-preserved Roman villas south of Ostia have been excavated in the area of Castel Fusano, including the Villa della Palombara excavated in 1989-2008.


Late-Roman and sub-Roman Ostia

Ostia grew to 50,000 inhabitants in the 2nd century, reaching a peak of some 100,000 inhabitants in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. It became an episcopal see as part of the
Diocese of Rome The Diocese of Rome ( la, Dioecesis Urbis seu Romana; it, Diocesi di Roma) is the ecclesiastical district under the direct jurisdiction of the Pope, who is Bishop of Rome and hence the supreme pontiff and head of the worldwide Catholic Churc ...
as early as the 3rd century AD; the cathedral (''
titulus Titulus, the Latin word for "title", "label" or "inscription" (plural ''tituli'', normally italicized), may or may not be italicized as a foreign word, and may refer to: * ''Titulus'', or Titular church, one of a group of Early Christian churches ...
'') of
Santa Aurea The Basilica of Santa Aurea is a church situated in the Ostia Antica district of Ostia, Italy. Ostia became an episcopal see as early as the 3rd century AD. The present-day church, completed in 1483, it was the seat of the suburbicarian dioces ...
being located on the burial site of St Monica, mother of
Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...
; she died here in 387 in a house property of the Diocesi of Rome. In time mercantile activities became focused on Portus instead. For scholars of the High Empire Ostia was the seaside version of Rome, the city of apartment buildings. It used to be thought that the city entered a period of slow decline after
Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...
made Portus a municipality, Ostia thereby ceasing to be an active port and instead becoming a popular country retreat for rich aristocrats from Rome. In spite of the fact that Portus shows substantial growth in the 4th century, the traditional view that Ostia went into marked decline has had to be revised due to recent excavations and re-evaluation of the evidence. The knocking down of some apartment blocks replaced by houses of the rich was "thought to have signalled the disappearance of Ostia's once-vibrant group of non-elite residents and labourers"..."recent research has suggested we take a more nuanced view of residential patterns and social demography in the Late Antique city". Earlier views of decay relied on fleeting references in the ancient sources and excavators ignoring evidence from the period that the town continued to thrive despite pockets of decay into the 6th century, "..life in Ostia ended not with a Vesuvian bang but with a whimper" after a slow decline from the 6th to the 9th centuries. The city housed the headquarters of the Prefect of the Annona and his large staff. Although there are signs of decay in certain quarters, evidence indicates continued prosperity through 5th century, including: repairs on baths (26 remained in operation during the 4th century), public buildings, church construction, street repaving, residential and business expansion beyond the perimeter of the south wall (the presence of a small harbour, the Porta Marina on the sea, is attested), a huge 4th century villa located east of the Maritime baths, and the continued operation of the river port on the western edge of the town, the ''navalia'', a squarish basin built in from the river, a warehouse on the east side and, behind it, a large bath complex, erroneously called the "palazzo imperial". Numerous bathing establishments are recorded as still operating in the 4th and into the 5th centuries with major repairs of the center-city Neptune Baths in the 370s. The city was mentioned by St Augustine when he passed there in the late 4th century. On their way back to Africa after Augustine's conversion to Christianity, Augustine's mother, Saint Monica, died in 387 in Ostia, while at a house property of the Diocesi of Rome The poet Rutilius Namatianus reported the lack of maintenance of the city ports in 414 AD. This view has been challenged by Boin, who states Namatianus' verse is a literary construct and not consistent with the archaeological record, ibid. pp. 22, 25, (the poet was lamenting the lost greatness of Rome after the sack of 410 and was hoping for the rise again of the great city). After the
fall of the Western Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vas ...
in 476 (traditional date: Julius Nepos died 480 was the last legitimate emperor), Ostia fell slowly into decay as the population of Rome, 700–800,000 in AD 400 contracted to 200,000 or less in 500 AD. The city was finally abandoned in the 9th century due to the repeated invasions and sackings by
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
pirates. A naval battle, the Battle of Ostia, was fought there in 849 between
Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
and
Saracens upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...
; the remaining inhabitants moved to
Gregoriopolis Ostia Antica is the 35th ''zona'' of Rome, Italy, four kilometers away from the coast. It is identified by the initials Z. XXXV and it is distinct from Ostia. Ostia Antica belongs to Municipio X. History Under the Romans, Ostia Antica re ...
a short distance away.


Sacking and excavation

A "local sacking" was carried out by Baroque architects, who used the remains as a sort of
marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorpho ...
storehouse for the '' palazzi'' they were building in Rome. The
Papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
started organizing its own investigations with
Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII ( it, Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. Chiaramonti was also a ...
. Under
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...
massive excavations were undertaken from 1939 to 1942 during which several remains, particularly from the Republican Period, were brought to light. These were interrupted when Italy became a major battlefield of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. In the post-war period, the first volume of the official series ''Scavi di Ostia'' appeared in 1954; it was devoted to a topography of the town by Italo Gismondi and after a hiatus the research still continues today. Though untouched areas adjacent to the original excavations were left undisturbed awaiting a more precise dating of Roman pottery types, the "Baths of the Swimmer", named for the mosaic figure in the '' apodyterium'', were meticulously excavated, in 1966–70 and 1974–75, in part as a training ground for young archaeologists and in part to establish a laboratory of well-understood finds as a teaching aid. It has been estimated that two-thirds of the ancient town are as yet unexcavated. In 2014, a geophysical survey using magnetometry, among other techniques, revealed the existence of a boundary wall on the north side of the Tiber enclosing an unexcavated area of the city containing three massive warehouses.


Modern day

The excavated site of Ostia Antica is open to the public as a tourist attraction. A number of finds from the excavation are housed on-site in the Museo Ostiense. The site has dining, and other facilities. The Theatre is also occasionally used for cultural events.


Media

*Ostia was featured in the novels ''
I, Claudius ''I, Claudius'' is a historical novel by English writer Robert Graves, published in 1934. Written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius, it tells the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the early years of the R ...
'' and '' Claudius the God'', both written by British novelist Robert Graves. The novels include scenes set at Ostia spanning from the reign of
Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
to the reign of Claudius, including the departure of
Agrippa Agrippa may refer to: People Antiquity * Agrippa (mythology), semi-mythological king of Alba Longa * Agrippa (astronomer), Greek astronomer from the late 1st century * Agrippa the Skeptic, Skeptic philosopher at the end of the 1st century * Agr ...
to Syria and Claudius's reconstruction of the harbour. In the 1976 television series, Ostia was frequently mentioned but never actually seen. *Ostia features in ''A War Within: The Gladiator'' by Nathan D. Maki. After an assassination attempt on Emperor Commodus the protagonists Antonius and Theudas escape by clinging to a barge on the Tiber, reaching Ostia, and stowing away on a trireme heading north to Ravenna. *Ostia appears briefly towards the end of the ''Roman Empire'' section of the
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...
comedy film '' History of the World, Part I'', where the main characters board a galleon (bearing the
El Al El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (, he, אל על נתיבי אויר לישראל בע״מ), trading as El Al (Hebrew: , "Upwards", "To the Skies" or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ar, إل-عال), is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural ...
logo) bound for Judaea. In the film, however, Ostia is only ever referred to as simply "the port". *Ostia's beach and port serves as the location for the 1993 music video of the song " La solitudine" by Laura Pausini. *Ostia is mentioned several times in the 2005 HBO/ BBC historical drama series ''
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
''. *Ostia is mentioned in the 2000 film ''
Gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...
'', when the protagonist, Maximus, learns that his army is camped at Ostia and awaiting orders. *One of the wonders buildable in the "Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire" mod for Sid Meier's ''
Civilization III ''Sid Meier's Civilization III'' is the third installment of the ''Sid Meier's Civilization'' turn-based strategy video game series. It was released in 2001, and followed by ''Civilization IV''. Unlike the original game, ''Civilization III'' was n ...
'' is called the "Portus Ostiae". *Ostia is the name of the Magic World's lost kingdom and the location of the gladiatorial games in the manga series '' Negima! Magister Negi Magi''. *Ostia is the name of the most important city of the Lycian Alliance in the '' Fire Emblem'' series. *Ostia is mentioned in several novels in Lindsey Davis' Marcus Didius Falco series. *Ostia is featured in the film '' Rome Adventure'' from 1962. *Ostia is a central location in the children's novel series ''
The Roman Mysteries ''The Roman Mysteries'' is a series of historical novels for children by Caroline Lawrence. The first book, ''The Thieves of Ostia'', was published in 2001, finishing with ''The Man from Pomegranate Street'', published in 2009, and totaling 17 ...
'' by
Caroline Lawrence Caroline Lawrence (born 1954) is an English American author, best known for ''The Roman Mysteries'' series of historical novels for children. The series is about a Roman girl called Flavia and her three friends: Nubia (a freed slave girl), Jona ...
, and its television adaption.


Gallery

File:Street and Dwellings, Ostia Antica (7966414348).jpg, Street and dwellings File:Area archeologica di Ostia Antica - panoramio (52).jpg, Temple of the
Capitoline Triad The Capitoline Triad was a group of three deities who were worshipped in ancient Roman religion in an elaborate temple on Rome's Capitoline Hill ( Latin ''Capitolium''). It comprised Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. The triad held a central place ...
: Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva File:Ostia gate.jpg, The inscription originally placed on the main gate File:Ostia Antica (46761317782).jpg, Theatrical masks, part of the architectural decoration of the Theatre (regio II, insula VII) File:Magazzino dei Doli Ostia Antica 2006-09-08.jpg, Dolia embedded in the ground at Caseggiato dei dolii File:Frigidarium Terme del Foro Ostia Antica 2006-09-08.jpg, Forum Baths (frigidarium) File:Domus di Amore e Psiche Ostia Antica 2006-09-08 n4.jpg, Floor pavement. Room C of the House of Cupid and Psyche (regio I, insula XIV) File:Statue of a reclining Attis at the Shrine of Attis 1.jpg, Statue of Attis in the Shrine of Attis File:Area archeologica di Ostia Antica - panoramio (62).jpg, View of the archaeological site File:Ostia Antica - Via Delle Tombe.jpg, Via delle Tombe


See also

*
Temple of Bellona, Ostia The temple of Bellona is a temple or sacellum dedicated to the Italic goddess Bellona (possibly here syncretised with Magna Mater) in Ostia Antica Ostia Antica ("Ancient Ostia") is a large archaeological site, close to the modern town of Osti ...
* Via Ostiensis * Museo Archeologico Ostiense


Notes


References

*Boatwright, Mary Taliaferro. ''The Romans: From Village to Empire''. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford UP (2012): 248 *Hermansen, Gustav 1982. ''Ostia: Aspects of Roman City Life'' (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press) *Meiggs, R. (1960) 1973. ''Roman Ostia'' 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press) The standard overview. *Packer, James E. 1971 ''The Insulae of Imperial Ostia" ''M.Am.Acad. Rome'' 31 *Pavolini, C. Ostia: Guida Archeologica Laterza'' (Rome:Laterza) (Italian) *Priester, S. ''Vielgeschossige Wohnbauten außerhalb der Tibermetropole,'' in: ''Ad summas tegulas. Untersuchungen zu vielgeschossigen Gebäudeblöcken mit Wohneinheiten und insulae im kaiserzeitlichen Rom'', L'Erma Di Bretschneider, Roma 2002, pp. 217 ff. *Lorenzatti Sandro, ''Ostia. Storia Ambiente Itinerari'' Roma 2007 (Rome:Genius Loci)


External links


Photographs of Ostia at DigitalMapsoftheAncientWorld
''retrieved August 13, 2022'' {{Authority control Archaeological parks Roman towns and cities in Italy Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Rome Archaeological sites in Lazio Roman sites in Lazio Ostia (Rome) Mithraea Former populated places in Italy Mediterranean port cities and towns in Italy Tourist attractions in Rome Roman harbors Roman harbors in Italy