Blog 4: Ostia, The Poor Man's Pompeii

Street with shops

We headed out to Ostia today. This used to be a port city that provided wheat and many other goods to the city of Rome. Because this was a working class city, the homes were not as lavish as those in places like Pompeii. As Rome began to decline, so did the need for Ostia and eventually it's landscape became swampy marsh land that was not inhabitable so the city was abandoned. When it was excavated, many buildings were very well preserved and it was comparable to the preservation of the town of Pompeii. Because Ostia was a port, though, and not an aristocrat's hangout, it showed how more common people lived, hence the title of this blog.

Ostia has many shops, apartments, and other various buildings preserved through time that give us an idea of what life was like. My personal favorite was the theater which looks to be based off of a Greek amphitheater. It was built by Agrippa during Augustus's reign. In front of the theater was a temple to an unknown god/goddess. Along the temple are well preserved offices of merchants and traders that were able to be identified because the Romans depicted what the person's office was by the mosaics on the floors. There were also shops that lined the the street behind the theater, showing that there was a lot of growth in Ostia and it had a thriving economy. The Bathes of Neptune are also found there, with the Neptune mosaic almost entirely intact. Another bath complex can be found, along with the forum, a temple to Jupiter, grain storage houses, mills, and the fire house that once held over three hundred men. This shows that not only was Ostia a large city, but the evidence of tools found there demonstrates their ability to handle the large population and trade.

Theater in Ostia. From this view, looking beyond the pillars and trees are where the merchants' offices are located. 

Neptune mosaic from the Bathes of Neptune. He is riding a chariot in this scene.

Ostia also has evidence of early Christianity. A sarcophagus was placed in the city as a shrine to a saint along with some questionable evidence where there were christen looking fish or other pictures in houses. This is to be expected because, as a port city, there is a melting pot of cultures and religions coming and going. In the beginnings of Christianity, it was preached that this was the religion for anyone, rich and poor. Ostia residence were not the wealthy aristocrats of Rome, so it's not surprising some of them adopted this new religion.

This is the sarcophagus shine in the city. There is a depiction of a man with a lamb on it which could be a christian symbol or it could be a symbol of one of the Roman gods. No one is sure today.

Ostia was a very interesting place because it shows more about daily Roman life than Rome itself does. It also shows common life and we are able to study the differences of the rich and the working class. This city was what kept Rome going and that allowed Rome to become the greatest empire of its time.