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OSTIA ANTICA TOUR ORGANIZED BY ROME TOUR GUIDE |
Ostia, located 15 miles along the Tiber river, on the west of Rome, is one of the very few ancient cities whose development can be followed from the very start till the day when it dies from natural causes.
The start of Ostian history is, of course, the construction of the military campment to control the salt trade ( castrum ) in the VI century AD. Equally important is the civilian settlement west of the castrum, where three roads met and where one finds facilities for urban life such as a market-place, called macellum.
That the spontaneous settlement happened west of the castrum has never been properly pointed out, but the subsequent building program of permanent houses confirms that observation.
By the second century BC Ostia began to function as a port for Rome: a city wall erected around 100 BC and enclosing about fifty hectares of land testified to its new commercial role. It was only with Augustus and his successors that the city received monumental buildings: the civic Forum with a new temple of Roma and Augustus and the theater with his own forum.
Construction of a protected port under Claudius ( 41-54 AD ) enhanced Ostia's importance, since before its creation debris constantly blocked the passage of large boats into the mouth of the Tiber river. The principal port of Italy's west coast, at modern Pozzuoli, handled the 150,000 tons of grain brought there annually from Egypt. With the Claudian harbor, located north of Ostia and connected with the Tiber by a canal, the problem od supplying Rome was temporarily resolved. The new port caused a boom in Ostia's economy: it became the administrative center of the port, responsible for transporting goods to Rome and for storing surpluses in warehouses. The population increased, requiring drastic building programs. Most regions of the city began to be rebuilt. To create firm foundations for the new tall brick- faced concrete insulae, the level of the city was raised about one meter ( 3 feet ), covering demolished atrium houses.
To be realistic, we hardly know anything about Ostia before the castrum was built:Ostia was originally a fortification, a military establishment, and a military establishment is placed where it is militarily correct to place it. In fact, the original purpose was to defend the mouth of the Tiber and the coastline at Rome's doorstep.
Ostia had prepared herself for an influx of people in the summer: travelers from Africa and the western Mediterranean and the merchantmen's crew, who often would lie over for a considerable time: the travelers waiting for a passage to a specific place, the seamen waiting for favourable weather or permission from the bureaucracy to go home. Just the number and size of the baths would exceed the capacity needed for the permanent population,calculated in around 50.000 people.
One of the reason why Ostia antica excavations are so famous is also because in the archaeological digs of the years 1950 it has been discovered a jewish synagogue that was built outside the city wall, closed to the harbor that served Rome. The synagogue remains visible today date to the fourth and fifth century AD and it's curious to note that this temple is oriented towards Jerusalem.
ANCIENT OSTIA EXCAVATION WALKING TOUR ITINERARY ( 4 hours )
PRIVATE TOUR WITH TOUR GUIDE AND MINIBUS
THE TOUR DOES NOT OPERATE ON MONDAYS
| FROM 1 TO 2 PEOPLE |
390 EURO IN TOTAL |
| FROM 3 TO 5 PEOPLE |
150 EURO PER PERSON |
| FROM 6 TO 10 PEOPLE |
100 EURO PER PERSON |
| FROM 11 TO 18 PEOPLE |
95 EURO PER PERSON |
THE PRICE INCLUDES
THE PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE
SPECIFICATIONS