The Road into Ostia, Antica


This used to be the Forum of the old port of Ostia.


Mosaics that used to be outside a row of shops. The mosaics showed what the shop did.. You can clearly see the shipping agent to the right but what does the strange picture in the foreground represent?

The marble floor from a house that used to belong to a rich Ostian.

A mosiac showing some sea creatures

A private room. The toilet in one of the houses.

I am sttting on some marble steps. My guide seemed to very much like marble.

In downtown Ostia

This is the dye works. They dyed the cloth in this bath and used amonia to fix the colours. Can you guess where the amonia came from?

‘ The glory that was Rome’; - a Corinthian column

Here I am in the theatre.

Three faces. These faces represent the masks that he actors used to use in the theatre in those days to show expression.

A statue of Cupid and Psyche. Psyche was a mortal who fell in love with Cupid, but that was a bit a problem as he was a god and she was not. The only way this would work out if she were a goddess, but Jupiter thought she ought to prove herself by performing a lot of tasks. The end of it that she completed the tasks and became a goddess.

Ostia Antica is so well preserved because it was covered with mud when the river changed it’ course. The only building that could be seen above the mude was the red Temple of Jupiter.


A fine patterned marble floor and you can even see some of the marble wall panels remaining.

A ruined colonade with some warehouses in the background.

Behind the counter of an Ostia eating house.

That’s about it. Here I am with my guide Francesca.

Rome

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