Ostia Antica () is an

ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

city and the port of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

located at the mouth of the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, 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 R ...

. It is near modern Ostia, southwest of

. Due to silting and the invasion of sand, the site now lies from the sea. The name ''Ostia'' (the plural of ''ostium'') derives from Latin ''os'' 'mouth'. Ostia is now a large

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

noted for the excellent preservation of its ancient buildings, magnificent

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es 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 (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

s. The city's decline after antiquity led to harbor deterioration, marshy conditions, and reduced population. Sand dunes covering the site aided its preservation. Its remains provide insights into a city of commercial importance. As in

Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...

, Ostia's ruins provide details about Roman urbanism that are not accessible within the city of Rome itself.

History

Origins

Ostia may have been Rome's first '' colonia''. According to legend, Ancus Marcius, the fourth

king of Rome The king of Rome () was the ruler of the Roman Kingdom, a legendary period of Roman history that functioned as an elective monarchy. According to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus, who founded the city in 753 BC upon the Palatine H ...

, was the first to destroy Ficana, an ancient town that was only from Rome and had a small harbour on the

, 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'' 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 List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

, Juno and

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

). 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 Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It can also ...

during the period of the Middle Republic. Ostia probably developed originally as a naval base, and in 267 BC, during the

first Punic war The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...

, it was the seat of the ''quaestor Ostiensis'' in charge of the fleet. During the 2nd century BC its role as a commercial port gradually became prevalent for the imports of grain for the city of Rome, and buildings began to spread outside the castrum.

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, aided by his generals Cinna, Carbo and Sertorius, and captured the city and plundered it.

Sacking by pirates

In 68 BC, the town was sacked by pirates, who set the port on fire, destroyed the consular war fleet, and kidnapped two prominent senators. This attack caused such panic in Rome that Pompey the Great arranged for the

tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the Tribune of the Plebs, tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs ac ...

Aulus Gabinius to pass 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 defensive walls started under Marcus Tullius Cicero according to an inscription.

Imperial Ostia

Ostia 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 Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

, who ordered the building of the town's first forum. Due to the small size of the harbour at Ostia,

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

commissioned a new harbour at Portus on the northern mouths of the Tiber (''Fiumara Grande''). Insufficiently protected from storms, Claudius' project was later supplemented by the hexagonal harbour built by

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

and finished in 113 AD. Trajan also developed the harbour of

Civitavecchia Civitavecchia (, meaning "ancient town") is a city and major Port, sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea west-northwest of Rome. Its legal status is a ''comune'' (municipality) of Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Rome, Lazio. The harbour is formed by ...

(''Centum Cellae''), a relatively short distance away. These ports took business away from Ostia and began its commercial decline. Nevertheless, Ostia grew to a peak of some 100,000 inhabitants in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Ostia itself was provided with all the services a town of the time could require; a large theatre, many public baths (such as the Thermae Gavii Maximi, or Baths at Ostia), numerous taverns and inns and a firefighting service. The popularity of the cult of Mithras is evident in the discovery of eighteen Mithraea. Ostia also contained the Ostia Synagogue, the earliest synagogue yet identified in Europe.

Late-Roman and sub-Roman Ostia

Although it used to be thought that the city entered a period of slow decline after

Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

made Portus a municipality, indicated by some apartment blocks being replaced by houses of the rich, recent excavations show that the town continued to thrive. Numerous baths are recorded as still operating in the 4th and 5th centuries with major repairs of the city's Neptune Baths in the 370s. During the 4th century, the city spilled over the southern walls to the sea south of Regions III and IV. The poet

Rutilius Namatianus Rutilius Claudius Namatianus (fl. 5th century) was a Roman Imperial poet, best known for his Latin poem, ''De reditu suo'', in elegiac metre, describing a coastal voyage from Rome to Gaul in 417. The poem was in two books; the exordium of the fi ...

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 inconsistent with the archaeological record. Prosperity in the 5th century is indicated by 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 east of the Maritime baths was built. The river port on the western edge of the town was expanded with the ''navalia'', a squarish basin built in from the river. A warehouse on the east side and, behind it, a large bath complex were built. It became an

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

as part of the

Diocese of Rome The Diocese of Rome (; ), also called the Vicariate of Rome, is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church under the direct jurisdiction of the pope, who is Bishop of Rome and hence the supreme pontiff and head of the worldwide Catholic Church. As ...

as early as the 3rd century AD. The episcopal church sponsored by Constantine the Great is located in the south-east of the city. 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. The church ('' titulus'') of Santa Aurea in Ostia was built on her burial site. 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 vast ...

in 476, 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. A naval battle, the

Battle of Ostia The naval Battle of Ostia took place in 849 in the Tyrrhenian Sea between a Muslim fleet and an Italian league of Papal States, Papal, Duchy of Naples, Neapolitan, Duchy of Amalfi, Amalfitan, and Duchy of Gaeta, Gaetan ships. The battle ended in ...

, was fought there in 849 between

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

and

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

; the remaining inhabitants moved to Gregoriopolis a short distance away.

Surroundings

Map of Roman villas between Ostia and Laurentum

South of Ostia many rich villa-estates were developed from the Republican era along the coast road to

Laurentum Laurentum was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman city of Latium situated between Ostia Antica, Ostia and Lavinium, on the west coast of the Italian Peninsula southwest of Rome. Roman writers regarded it as the original capital of Italy, before Lavin ...

. 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.

Excavations

The remains were used over the centuries as a quarry for

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

for the '' palazzi'' built in Rome. The

Papacy The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

started organising its own digs for sculptures with Pope Pius VII. Under

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

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. 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 Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...

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. In 2025, excavations at Ostia Antica uncovered what may be the oldest Jewish ritual bath (''mikveh'') found outside

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, dating to the late 4th or early 5th century. Located within a large Roman house, the bath features a deep immersion pool and an

oil lamp An oil lamp is a lamp used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and continues to this day, although their use is less common in modern times. The ...

with a menorah symbol, supporting its Jewish identification.

Modern day

The site of Ostia Antica is open to the public. Finds from the excavation are housed onsite in the Museo Ostiense.

Media

*Ostia was featured in the novels '' I, Claudius'' and '' Claudius the God'', both written by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

novelist

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were b ...

. The novels include scenes set at Ostia spanning from the reign of

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

to the reign of

, including the departure of Agrippa to

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

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 Commodus (; ; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was Roman emperor from 177 to 192, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father Marcus Aurelius and then ruling alone from 180. Commodus's sole reign is commonly thought to mark the end o ...

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 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

comedy film '' History of the World, Part I'', where the main characters board a galleon (bearing the

El Al EL AL Israel Airlines Ltd. (), trading as EL AL (, "Upwards", "To the Skies", or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ) is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv in September 1948, the airline has grown to serve ...

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 "La solitudine" (''"The Loneliness"'') is a song by Italian pop singer Laura Pausini, released as her debut single by CGD in February 1993. Pausini sang it for the first time on 23 February 1993, during the 43rd Sanremo Music Festival. On 27 F ...

" by

Laura Pausini Laura Pausini (; born 16 May 1974) is an Italian Pop music, pop singer. She rose to fame in 1993, winning the newcomer artists' section of the Sanremo Music Festival 1993, 43rd Sanremo Music Festival with the song "La solitudine", which becam ...

. *Ostia is mentioned several times in the 2005

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

historical drama series ''

''. *Ostia is mentioned in the 2000 film ''

Gladiator A gladiator ( , ) 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 gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

'', 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 ''Civilization (series), Sid Meier's Civilization'' turn-based strategy video game series. It was released in 2001, and followed by ''Civilization IV''. Unlike the original game, ''C ...

'' is called the "Portus Ostiae". *Ostia is one of the inspirations for the setting of '' The Talos Principle''. *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 ''Negima! Magister Negi Magi'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ken Akamatsu. It was serialized in Kodansha's Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from Febru ...

''. *Ostia is the name of the most important city of the Lycian Alliance in the ''

Fire Emblem is a Video games in Japan, Japanese fantasy tactical role-playing game franchise developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. First produced and published for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990, the series currently con ...

'' 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'' by Caroline Lawrence, 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 in th ...

: 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 TombeV File:Ostia Antica - House of the Painted Vaults - room 5 - west and south wall - 2.jpg, Room 5 of the House of the Painted Vaults. A wall painting of an erotic scene is on the south wall. 250 CE

Notes

References

;Archaeological reports * * ;Discussions * Boatwright, Mary Taliaferro. ''The Romans: From Village to Empire''. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford UP (2012): 248 * Danner, Marcel (2017). ''Wohnkultur im spätantiken Ostia'' ousing culture in late antique Ostia Kölner Schriften zur Archäologie, volume 1. Wiesbaden: Reichert, . * Heinzelmann, Michael (2004).
Die Nekropolen von Ostia. Untersuchungen zu den Gräberstraßen vor der Porta Romana und an der Via Laurentia
' he necropolises of Ostia. Investigations into the necropolis streets in front of the Porta Romana and on the Via Laurentia Studien zur antiken Stadt, volume 6. München: Pfeil,
link to the supplement plans
. *Hermansen, Gustav 1982. ''Ostia: Aspects of Roman City Life.'' Edmonton: University of Alberta Press. * Karivieri, Arja (2020). ''Life and death in a multicultural harbour city. Ostia antica from the Republic through late antiquity.'' Rome: Institutum Romanum Finlandiae, . *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. * Rieger, Anna-Katharina (2004). ''Heiligtümer in Ostia'' anctuaries in Ostia München: Pfeil, . * Lorenzatti Sandro, ''Ostia. Storia Ambiente Itinerari.'' Roma 2007.

External links

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