Ostia Antica

Today was one of those wonderfully unexpected treasures.

I was still sitting in my room at 1000 contemplating what to do with my second last day in Rome, and it was looking like it was going to be espressos and a book in the park. Then it struck me to go to Ostia Antica.

It was probably borne out of feeling less than enthused by the Forum and Colosseum that I thought I should go find something antique to visit. I thought about the walls, but I had already seen them. Brundisium and Pompey were just a bit too difficult to get to in an unplanned afternoon. So, looking at my map, Ostia Antica jumped off the page at me. I did some quick research, which indicated this was a sleepy little site in outer suburban Rome that didn’t have the flash of Pompey, but was bigger and much more relaxed.

That sounded perfect.

So I packed my lunch and the K3 and headed for the train station. With my Roma Pass, transit was free, and it only took three connections to get there (that is NOT a criticism). By 1230, I was on the ground outside the site 35km away from my hotel in a very sleepy corner of Rome, just an hour and a half after conceiving the idea. That’s not bad.

Anyway, as I stood at the gate, I knew this was going to be exciting. There was red Roman brick receding into the green as far as I could see, and as far as I could tell I was alone except for one lonely volunteer at the ticket booth. My Roma pass got me in for free…

Well, if the Forum was grand, sterile, fragmented and busy… this was the opposite of that. Understated, tactile, cohesive and deserted. In short, this was the main port of Rome into the early Empire until the shifting Tiber and a bad flood or two left it abandoned. It was silted over very quickly and thus very well preserved. What has been revealed by excavation are kilometres of streets with absolutely everything that made a Roman town Roman largely intact. Forum, baths, markets, capitol, apartments, public toilets…

… and it was all unkempt, un-cordoned and largely deserted.  Visitors are largely free to clamber around as they like. I had my lunch within the walls of an old bakery beside the millstones and grain bins. I escaped the heat for a while by exploring the underground hypocausts of the bathhouse. It was amazing.

Anyway, after four hours a lack of water drove me out. I still hadn’t covered half of the site, though I think I managed to visit most of the main structures. This should be up there on any Rome nerd’s to do list.