ANCIENT OSTIA (Archaeological site)

OSTIA ANTICA (Scavi)

According to tradition Ostia was founded by Ancus Marcius (640/616 BC), but the archaeological records confirm the existence of the city only in the fourth century BC, immediately after the conquest of Veii of 396 BC

Materials dating back to the Bronze Age (from the thirteenth until the tenth century BC) in the territory of the current Acilia and Ostia (ancient Ficana) are evidence nevertheless that the area was inhabited also in ancient times

It was cosmopolitan and here lived together races, languages, religions and cultures, with people grouped in associations according to their profession

There were temples dedicated to local deities as well as to Mithra (Persian) with 17 mithraea, Cybele (Phrygian) and Isis (Egyptian). A synagogue was also found here not long ago

Sulla (about 138/78 BC) decided to build large walls around the town

In the second century BC it had become the commercial port of Rome but the remains of its river port have not yet been identified. It had to be small and difficult to access. It was probably located between the castrum and the bend of the Tiber River

The real port of Ostia was the one built by Claudius (41/54) in 42 AD near the present Airport of Fiumicino, later expanded by Trajan (98/117) in the years 106/113 AD with an hexagonal basin

Ostia was the hub of commercial goods shipped to Rome, and the city grew in wealth and prestige, reaching its maximum expansion with the urban restructuring of Hadrian (117/138) completed by Antoninus Pius (138/161), up to the urban works planned by Commodus (180/192) when it counted more than 50,000 inhabitants. The expansion finished at the time of Commodus

After the administrative autonomy granted by Constantine (306/337) to Portus, Ostia was in full decline, suffered the incursions of the Visigoths under Alaric and, after a momentary awakening during the reign of Theodoric, the barbarian invasions led to its abandonment

During the twelfth and thirteenth century marble was plundered here even by sailors of Pisa and Amalfi so that they would decorate the churches and monuments of their cities

Ancient Ostia sank into oblivion: several floods, including the terrible one of 1557, shifted the riverbed and now the coastline has retreated about 4 km (2.5 miles)

Excavations began in the early nineteenth century with Carlo Fea, under Pius VII Chiaramonti (1800/23), continued under Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78) with Pietro Ercole and Carlo Ludovico Visconti and in 1907 with Dante Vaglieri

Excavations intensified with Paribeni and Guido Calza, who, with Italo Gismondi director of excavations, before 1942 dug in four years an area equal to that discovered until then

So far about three-quarters of the ancient city has been unearthed. It originally occupied an area of 69 hectares (170 acres)

Necropolis

2

The oldest of the city, dating back to the second century BC at least

TOMB OF HERMOGENES

TOMB OF THE ARCHES maybe dating back to the period of Claudius (41/54), transformed into a columbarium in the Flavian period (69/96) and arcosolia for burials inserted at the end of the second century

TOMB OF THE OVII FAMILY from the Campania region with a room built as an underground chamber

TWIN COLUMBARIA

Republican Walls

Traditionally dating back to Sulla’s period, but, in fact, the construction of the walls was approved only in 63 BC by Cicero, in the year of his consulate, and completed in 58 BC by his opponent Clodius Pulcher

The decision to build the walls was taken after the ruinous attack of the Cilician pirates on the Ostia fleet in 67 BC

The walls are about 2 m (6.5 feet) broad at the base

The facing of the walls is an almost reticulated work in tufa from Monteverde

Porta Romana

3

Period of Domitian (81/96)

Flanked by TWO SQUARE TOWERS

Marble decoration of which was part the "Statue of Victorious Minerva". A copy of the statue is in Piazzale della Vittoria and the original is in the Ostiense Museum

On the left there are the remains of a MONUMENTAL NYMPHAEUM of which a big basin is left. It was used as a watering basin for horses, for the rest stops of the cisiarii (carters)

Before the gate there is the FIRST STELE OF CANINIUS, one of the milestones that marked the public area in about 140/130 BC, perhaps the oldest inscriptions in Ostia

Near the stele there is a MARBLE BASE on which there was originally a statue of Health for the safety of the emperor

South of the gate in the early 80s was found the CASTELLUM AQUAE of 60 x 6.25 m (197 x 20.5 feet) dating back to about 90/100 AD, the terminal fountain of ostiense aqueduct which maybe replaced the tank below the Baths of Neptune

Apartments block of the Dog Monnus

Immediately after the gate on the right, taverns open on a portico dating back to about 112 AD with a mosaic of the early third century AD

In a corridor: "Marine subject and dog wagging with epigraph Monnus under a Nereid"

Republican Warehouses

5

Four main phases of construction with complex history of the building and discussed dating

Maybe public warehouses or market, later part of the Baths of Cisiarii

Baths of the Cisiarii

6

End of the first century or beginning of the second century AD

Maybe these baths belonged to the Guild of the Cisiarii (carters)

The complex was built on the remains of previous warehouses

Along the east side there are rooms for services and facilities, and at the center there are two heated rooms with floors decorated with mosaics

Here is the “Quadrangular mosaic of the frigidarium”, restored in the third century AD: two city walls including scenes take with a marine theme and activities typical of the Cisiarii, both with the cisium, a two-wheeled carriage for passengers, both with the carruca, a four-wheel carriage for goods and luggage

There are also written jokes about the names of the mules

Shrine and Mithreaum

In the SHRINE of unknown deity, built at the time of Antoninus Pius (138/161), there is one of the oldest polychrome mosaics of the imperial period, dating back to a time when still prevailed black and white mosaics

MITHRAEUM in a semi basement maybe of the third century AD

Further on, on the right

Portico of the Pitched Roof

7

More than 100 m (328 feet) long, dating back to the period of Hadrian (117/138), behind which there are shops and a warehouse complex (horrea) with suspensurae, small pillars to raise the floor against moisture

Further on it is possible to see part of the long fistula (pipe) of lead that was the main means of distribution of water in the city

At the corner of the portico on the decumano there is the SECOND STELE OF CANINIUS

Behind the portico

Horrea Antoniniani

Not excavated. Warehouses for grain dating back to the period of Commodus (180/192)

It is assumed it was one of the largest granaries of Ostia built when the fleet delivering grain with Commodus used to land in Porto instead of Pozzuoli

After the intersection with Via dei Vigili there is a WELL maybe dating back to the fifth century when the water supply was not working anymore

On the right there are the remains of the

Portico of Neptune

Dating back to the period of Hadrian (117/138) and restored in the late second century AD, after a fire, by one P. Lucilius Gamala a magistrate who was part of a noble family of Ostia

It was restored again in the fourth century

It was an imposing building on this side of the road, where some important buildings used to be, including the

Baths of Neptune

9

Built for Domitian (81/96)

Rebuilt for Hadrian (117/138), who decided to suspend works due to lack of funds

Eventually finished by Antoninus Pius (138/161) at his own expense in the year 139 AD

On the left there is the GYM with colonnade on three sides and a CISTERN underneath before the baths, maybe the first large water tank of the public aqueduct, not used anymore after the reconstruction of Hadrian

Two mosaics in the entrance halls:

In the MAIN HALL there is one of the most magnificent in Ostia: "Triumph of Neptune" 18 x 12 m (59 x 39 feet)

In the adjacent room "The Queen of the Sea Amphitrite, led by Hymen and four Mermen playing instruments"

In the LATRINA (public toilets), to the right of the entrance, there is a mosaic representing a "Nilotic Scene with Grotesque Pygmy"

Further on there is a FRIGIDARIUM (room for cold baths) with two bathtubs and another mosaic on the floor depicting "Scilla"

Further on there are two TEPIDARIA heated by hot air circulating in terracotta pipes and a CALDARIUM (room for hot baths) with two bathtubs

On the side there is a CORRIDOR, from which the heat produced by the ovens was distributed

Turning to Via dei Vigili, below street level, there is a mosaic with "Male Heads, Personifications of the Roman Provinces and of Winds" belonging to a previous building and maybe commemorating the beginning of the construction of the Port of Claudius

Firemen's Barracks

10

Built around the year 90 AD

Restored at the time of Hadrian (117/138)

It used to house a corps of the about 400 vigiles (firefighters)

The building originally had at least two floors, with an arcaded courtyard covering entrances to rooms

On the year 207 AD a chapel for the imperial cult, the Cesareum, was built

On the floor mosaic with "Sacrifice of a Bull"

On the podium "Five Small Bases" dedicated from right to left to Antoninus Pius (138/161), Lucius Verus (161/166), Septimius Severus (193/211), Marcus Aurelius (161/180) both as an emperor and as an heir to the throne

Inside the main entrance there is a latrine with marble seats, while outside, on Via dei Vigili there are two mosaics with "Representation of big bowls"

Remains of Baths under Via dei Vigili

The oldest in Ostia abolished after the construction of the Baths of Neptune

Mosaic representing "Dolphins, Winds and Provinces (Sicily, Egypt, Africa and Spain)"

Behind the Firemen’s Barracks there is a FULLONICA, workshop of the fullones, workers who would wash and clean clothing

This is one of the largest of the five in Ostia, dating back to the beginning of Hadrian’s period (about 117/125) with small rooms used for the Saltus Fullonicus, the pressing of cloths with feet

Block of Apartments with Shops

Divided into three blocks by two passage corridors to connect Via della Fontana with Via delle Corporazioni

The three parts of the building are known as:

Tenement of the Ovens

During the Antonine period (second century AD) here there was a large workshop of some sort, possibly a bakery

Insula of the Painted Ceiling

11

Residential building (towards Via della Fontana) and commercial shops (towards Via Corporations)

Stately home with a corridor, three rooms and a living room (first room on the right) with frescoes on the walls yellow and red (colors much used during the period of Commodus, 180/192) representing "Dionysian figure dancing" and interesting paintings on the ceiling with "Lozenges and squares red and Yellow"

Insula of Hercules as a Child

Residential building (towards Via Corporations) and commercial shops (towards Via della Fontana)

The frescoes representing "Hercules as a child" painted during Commodus’ period were detached

Caupona of Fortunato

13

Small bar for selling drinks, as stated by an inscription on the ground, "Fortunato says: because you're thirsty you drink wine from the bowl"

In fact bars like this were known as popina because caupona meant hotel

Still along Via della Fontana, there is a PUBLIC FOUNTAIN on the right side, the best preserved one in Ostia

Nymphaeum

Located at the west end of the Portico of Neptune that was rebuilt in the fourth century AD as a nymphaeum with niches covered in marble within a fence

It is not facing the decumanus (main road from east to west) but the shops

Christian Oratory

14

It is one of the few Christian buildings of Ostia, in memory of the martyrs of the city in the third century AD, including S. Aurea, to whom was dedicated the Basilica in the necropolis of the Via Ostiense built over his grave, the present church of Ostia Antica

On a wall is a sarcophagus, with "Orpheus playing the lyre" and the inscription (now not in situ): Here sleeps in peace Quiriaco Ciriaco perhaps the Bishop of Ostia

A news 1162 describes the building as sole survivor of Ostia, The faithful came there from Gregoriopoli

The oratory insists on one of the two nymphs on each side of the theater and perhaps Domitian rebuilt in Severian. The porch on the right with marble columns portasanta was added in a later age again

Honorary Arch of Caracalla

216 AD for Caracalla (211/217)

Only three pillars made out of bricks remain. Maybe the two arches were connected by a wooden roof forming a covered atrium at the entrance of the theater

Here maybe took place the martyrdom of S. Aurea and other Christians under Claudius II the Gothic (268/270)

Theater

18

Built in about 18/17 BC by Agrippa (about 63/12 BC) with approximately 3,000 seats

Commodus enlarged to 4,000 seats but it opened only in 196 under Septimius Severus (193/211)

Also the central entrance was embellished with stucco

It was restored at the end of the fourth century by Ragonius Vincentius Celsus a prefect of the Annona (food administration), a very important politician for the history of Ostia

A unique feature of this theater, never found in other ancient theaters, was the main entrance leading directly to the orchestra and it was also peculiar that the other accesses were the two side passages

The auditorium is reconstructed for the most part. Originally there were three tiers of seats, of which only two remain. The first three rows were places of honor

The orchestra was enlarged and adapted as colimbetra (swimming pool for water games) later, during the late fourth century. Maybe it was used for fashionable water games (tetimìmi) with performances of Nereids and Nymphs

The water came up through the central passage from two tanks that formerly were workshops under the portico

The theater underwent other renovations and in 1927 was made accessible by Raffaele De Vico (1881/1969)

It is used for summer shows with a current capacity of 2,700 spectators

Piazzale delle Corporazioni

Square of the Guilds

19

Quadrangular portico (107 x 78 m - 350 x 255 feet), with two rows of Doric columns

Built in the period of Augustus (27 BC/14 AD), it was designed with walls in reticulated square bricks for the theater, perhaps as a shelter from bad weather or for walking

With Claudius (41/54), it became a real portico with columns. At the time of Hadrian (117/138) the floor was raised of about 40 cm (16 inches) and another row of columns was inserted in order to build a double portico

Since the half of the second century/early third century AD there was a gradual inclusion of the mosaics: "Trades in the Mediterranean and types of activities carried out by Corporations". They do not always respect the original design for the not very accurate restorations during the centuries

In the third century 50 stationes (rooms) were built in the portico, later to become 64, maybe used by shopkeepers and entrepreneurs as representative offices for their activities

The square was perhaps arranged as a garden and adorned with statues

At the center is a TEMPLE of the end of the first century AD, maybe erected in honor of Pater Tiberinus (Father Tiber) or Vulcan, not Ceres, as often written in the past

On the west side of the portico there is a cast of the ''Altar of the twins, with Eagle" now at Palazzo Massimo

Domus di Apuleius

House of Apuleius

21

The building phase of about 75/50 BC, the oldest and not well preserved, is coeval with that of the nearby four Small Republican Temples

Maybe the first owner was Publius Lucilius Gamala the one who had the temples built

It dates back to the time of Trajan (98/117), one of the few examples of houses of this period

Restorations made around the year 200 modified the structure

After the discovery of a leaden fistula (pipe) with the inscription "P. Apuleius" of the half of the second century AD, scholars identified the owner as the famous orator and philosopher Lucius Apuleius Marcellus author of “The Golden Ass"

The very unusual pan of the building is shaped as a L, for lack of space

This building is ahead of its time for the type of the colonnaded courtyard, which will be found in Ostia only in the homes of the middle empire

To the left is the second wing with a corridor behind which there are two rows of rooms, some decorated with mosaics, ("Gorgon", "Nereids", "Satyr and Maenad", "Wrestlers") including the most important in the tablinum

Mithraeum of the Seven Spheres

23

West of the Domus of Apuleius, maybe dating to the second or third century

One of the best kept of the 17 mithraea in Ostia

Maybe it was a small private temple adjoining the Domus of Apuleius

Podiums (praesepia) are covered with mosaics with zodiac signs

On the floor mosaic with "Seven planets (Moon, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and Venus)", symbolizing the phases of initiation into the cult. The number seven is often present in mithraea

At the far end of the room there is a cast of a relief, now in the Vatican Museums, with "Mithras killing a bull" placed on the thronum (throne)

Four Small Republican Temples

22

One of the oldest religious complexes of Ostia, built probably between 90 and 60 BC, when it was in a suburban area, near the river port

Four temples, of the same size, on a single platform 34 m (111 feet) long in tufa stone, maybe dedicated to four different deities

On the last on the right there is an altar with a dedication: "Veneri Sacrum", dedicated to Venus

This inscription and some features of the walls would connect it with an inscription of the first half of the first century BC, where they there is a mention of four temples built by Publius Lucilius Gamala, dedicated to Venus, Fortuna, Hope and Ceres, goddesses auguring well for navigation and trade

In the sacred area in front of the temples, on the side toward the theater, there is a OPEN AIR SACELLUM (small shrine) with steles that relate it to the worship of Jupiter

To the left of the small shrine there is a BUILDING WITH THREE APSES dating back to the time of Hadrian (117/138) traditionally considered a nympheaum

Also of the time of Hadrian is the ROW OF SHOPS facing the decumanus, the main road from east to west

Along the decumanus, on the right, there is a SMALL NYMPHAEUM built with bricks maybe dating back to the period of Antoninus Pius (138/161)

Immediately after, there is the THIRD STELE OF CANINIUS, the further western one, embedded in a wall of the imperial period

Hall of Mars and Venus

Hall with two opposing apses decorated with marble on the walls, dating back to the fourth century, inserted between the shops facing the decumanus

Maybe it was the seat of a collegium

From here comes the marble group "Mars and Venus" now in the Museo delle Terme in an area not open to visitors that in 2009 caused controversy given the will of the then Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to take it in his office in Palazzo Chigi as if he was a new Napoleon. The story continued in 2010 with his laughable order to restore it with arbitrary additions contrary to the most basic criteria of restoration

Small Republican Temple

The identification is uncertain. An inscription found in the vicinity mentions Neptune and the Dioscuri

It dates back to about 70/50 BC

It was built with the so called almost reticulated facing with moldings of tufa in the podium

What remains of the cella is made of bricks and therefore it was rebuilt in the imperial period

Gate and Walls of the Castrum

56

End of the fourth century BC

The walls were built with square blocks of tufa from Fidene, with a door on each side

The castrum (military fort) of rectangular shape is cut into four equal parts by the two main streets (Decumanus Maximus and Cardus Maximus)

At the center, where now the Capitol is, are still visible remains of the paving of the ancient Cardus

This fortified town was built to defend the mouth of the Tiber, but soon it was surrounded by residential buildings as the town was slowly developing

Between the second and first century BC commercial buildings and stately domus (houses) were also built

EXEDRA ON THE DECUMANUS

SQUARE WITH COLUMNS ON THE LEFT

Late construction (fourth or fifth century) built to embellish the decumanus as the inner areas of the city were being abandoned. In fact, the back wall of the exedra built with the building technique known as opus listatum, barred the street called Semita dei Cippi, the major road leading to the Laurentina Gate

Grandi Horrea

Large Warehouses

24

Possibly built originally around the mid-century AD after the opening of the Port of Claudius or maybe dating back to the late Republican period

Completely rebuilt under Commodus (180/192) when the complex was definitely used for grain and another floor was built

These are the largest warehouses of Ostia with 64 rooms, of which the oldest are around a courtyard with a portico in the middle, made out of tufa columns

Later on two sets of parallel rooms were added and were equipped with suspensurae, small pillars to isolate moisture

The entrances were too narrow for wagons to pass through and so the bags were brought in on shoulder by saccarii (sacks porters)

The restructuring under Septimius Severus (193/211), which increased the storage capacity, proves that Ostia, after the construction of the Port of Trajan, suffered no decline at all and flourished even for the increase of trade

Bakery on Via dei Molini (or Molino del Silvano)

57

One of the largest bakeries in Ostia

It was connected to the Large Horrea with arches of which remain the piers

Perhaps here the distributions of free bread were held

The Molino del Silvano was destroyed by fire at the end of the third century AD and never rebuilt

Facing the street there were SIX TABERNAS (shops) maybe for retail sale

Inside there are lava millstones. In the last compartment in the north there is a large oven

Angiporto and Sacello del Silvano

Narrow Corridor and Shrine of Sylvanus

58

During the Severan period (193/235) this narrow passage became a service room of the bakery

The south section was transformed into a SHRINE FOR THE WORSHIP OF SYLVANUS, god of woods and fields and flocks

Mosaic with "Scene of sacrifice" and paintings with "Sylvanus, Isis, Fortuna, Annona and historical figures such as Alexander the Great and Augustus" very much damaged, dating back to the Severian period (before 215)

Casa di Diana

Diana’s House

59

It is traditionally dated to the years 130/140 AD

It was a typical insula divided into apartments (cenacula), that the owner would have rented out

This type of residential building became more and more popular after the construction of the Port of Trajan, when the population of Ostia greatly increased

It reached a height of about 20 m (66 feet) and it is estimated that this insula as others in Ostia could have up to five floors

On the ground floor, as you enter on the right, there is a room once used as a latrine, toilet

Tabernae (shops) with mezzanines, or small rooms where shopkeepers or the lower classes would live

On the upper floors there were comfortable apartments with balconies used by the middle class

The house takes its name from a painting of "Diana the Huntress", on a clay tablet embedded on a wall

Decorations date back maybe to Commodus’ period (180/192)

Two rooms were eventually transformed into a MITHRAEUM

Piazzetta dei Lari

Small Square of thre Lares

Secluded square surrounded by buildings dating back to Hadrian’s period (about 120)

On the left there are structures backed on the west by the walls of the castrum

In the center FOUNTAIN and MARBLE ALTAR dedicated to "Lares of the neighborhood" (Lari compitales) round with neo-Attic relief: the only images left visible are two fauns and an altar with fire burning

Caseggiato del Mitreo di Lucrezio Menandro

Tenement of the Mithraeum of Lucretius Menander

60

Building with tabernae (shops) on the façade, in mixed work technique (opus mixtum) dating to about 127 AD

After the fourth shop there is a MITHRAEUM dating back to about 200 AD with pre-existing paintings, not painted over, of the period of Marcus Aurelius (161/180)

Inscription on the altar with a dedication to Deo Invicto Mithrae in honor of the priest, the pater Lucretius Menander

Shops on Via dei Balconi

Down the street public fountain

Left manufactured in workshops c. 127

On the front of one of tabernae, above the fountain, he teaches clay with tools mason who came here sold

Thermopolium on Via di Diana

55

One of the most interesting buildings in Ostia: an inn for pouring wine at the time of Hadrian (117/138)

In fact these places were called popinae because thermopolia is a word of Greek origin

Off Via di Diana a covered walkway leads into a courtyard with tabernae (shops)

Balconies on the first floor, with arches on shelves made out of travertine

Three entrances to the inn, dating back to the third century AD, in rooms previously used for something else. Under the counter there is a bowl for washing dishes

In the DINING ROOM with frescoes, there is another counter for the display of food with a painting with “Still life” above

To the right there is the kitchen with a stove and a dolio, which fresh water and wine were kept

To the left there is room the use of which is unknown

Behind the inn there is a COURTYARD with a small fountain and stone seats for guests

Caseggiato dei Dipinti

Tenement of the Paintings

It was built in the years 128/138 AD

It is one of the most diverse apartment blocks of Ostia, built over a building of the late-republican period that had been razed to the ground

It developed in height on three or four floors (such as the House of Diana), L-shaped with inner garden

It is made out of shops and mezzanines, in addition to the three insulae, residential buildings with apartments:

Insula di Giove e Ganimede

Insula of Jupiter and Ganymede

61

Quite luxurious residence with a small courtyard, decorated with a mosaic, and rooms with frescoes dating from between 184 and 192, with a common yellow background and some decorative motifs

It takes its name from one of these frescoes, now no longer visible, that had as subject "Jupiter and Ganymede"

Insula di Bacco Fanciullo

Insula of Baccus Child

62

Decoration similar to that of the Insula of Jupiter and Ganymede but more modest

The paintings are schematic and the figures have disappeared. In 1920 it was still visible a painting with "Mercury with Bacchus child in her arms" ​​which gave the house its name

On the back wall of the garden there is polychrome mosaic from the House of Perseus, rich suburban villa of the second century AD just outside the Laurentina Gate, with "Representation of Months (March and April)" of the second half of the fourth century

Aedicula (small shrine) against the wall that divides the garden with the cast of a statue of "Jupiter with the Eagle"

Insula dei Dipinti

Insula of Paintings

63

Layout almost identical to that of the Insula of Bacchus

Despite the name the paintings are now almost completely disappeared

Casa dei Dolii

House of the Dolii

64

One of the three known houses in Ostia with a room for dolii, big round terracotta containers for oil and wine. In this one there are about 35.

Engraved numbers indicate the capacity that was in average of 40 amphorae. Each amphora corresponds to about 26 liters (6.9 gallons)

It is assumed that in this block would live members of rich classes working in the port area

MUSEO OSTIENSE

Ostia Museum

Casone del Sale (Big House of Salt) used since the fifteenth century for the exploitation of salt mines in the area by the papal government

In 1865/66 Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78) transformed the Casone into a Museum, expanded in 1933 and in the sixties

ROOM I & II

Teaching rooms dedicated to the discovery and the excavation of Ostia

ROOM III

Eastern cults

"Round altar with the twelve Olympian Gods" neo-Attic work of the first century BC inspired by works of Praxiteles

"Reliefs with the sun and the moon" from the Mithraeum of the Planta Pedis

"Group of Mithras killing the bull" from the Baths of Mithra

“Eighteen sculptures” from the Sanctuary of Attis many commissioned by the donor C. Cartilio Euplius

"Serpent coiled around a pine tree" symbol of Attis

ROOM IV

Eastern cults

"Sarcophagus lid with semi-reclining archigallus" of the second half of the third century AD

The archigallus was a high priest of the cult of Cybele and Attis

"Two reliefs with an archigallus doing his job"

"Relief with child involved with the cult of Isis" of the fourth century AD

"Serapis enthroned"

ROOM V

Copies from Greek originals

"Head of Hermes larger than life"

"Two Herms" referring to the type of Hermes Propylaios by Alcamenes

"Two heads of Athena"

"Herm of Themistocles" from the Tenement of Themistocles

"The more realistic representation of the body and of the emotions, already evident in the Severe style, is emphasized in this first example of portraiture. The fact that the birth of an authentic art of portraiture actually coincides with this copy of a portrait of Themistocles, winner at Salamis in 480 BC, could be discussed, but this sculpture provides anyway an extremely convincing example. The individualisation of features appears indisputable, as well as the characteristics of the Severe style. However the application of idealized classical sculpture continued to be present too in predominant part, and the next generation of sculptors refused any further representation in a realistic sense" (John Griffiths Pedley)

"Head of adolescent" with polychrome traces

"Apollo known as Omphalo’s Apollo"

"Frieze with myths of Hephaestus and Athena" recomposed with blocks from Berlin

"Fragmented group of two wrestlers" of Hellenistic inspiration

Various representations of "Artemis" also in Room VI

ROOM VI

Copies from Greek originals

Large relief with "Minerva-Winged Victory" from Porta Romana

"Two half-naked female statue" maybe Venus Marina or Ino-Leucotea

"Two portraits of Demosthenes" from original by Polyeuctus

"Colossal torso maybe representing Asclepius" of the end of the second century BC from the Tetrastyle Temple in the Sacred Republican Area

"Part of naked female figure in a marine environment" maybe Scilla

"Large votive relief in Greek marble maybe with the myth of Theseus and Ariadne" of the first century BC

 "Relief of the Haruspex Fulvio Salvis" from the Temple of Hercules

ROOM VII

Copies from Greek originals

"Perseus" from the baths of the suburban villa known as Perseus Villa, outside the Laurentina Gate, inspired by the Meleager of Scopa

"Head of a satyr"

"Head of a barbarian"

Two copies of "Eros stringing his bow" from the original by Lysippos from the Nymphaeum of the Cupids

Two Neo-Attic reliefs: "Arion on the dolphin" and "Old Silenus sacrificing"

"Head of Victory" acroterial statue of the Temple of Rome and Augustus

"Group of Cupid and Psyche" from the domus of the same name from the Hellenistic original of Asia Minor

"Mars warrior near the walls of a city"

Some groups representing everyday life people: "Fisherman", "On the way to the market" and others

ROOM VIII

Portraiture of the Imperial period

Votive statue of "Cartilius Poplicola" from the Temple of Hercules

"Head maybe of Augustus (27 BC/14 AD)"

"Colossal head of Marciana" sister of Trajan (98/117) and mother of Matidia, who was Hadrian's mother-in-law, from the Terme di Porta Marina (Baths of the Sea Gate) known also as "Baths of Marciana"

"Trajan"

"Hadrian (117/138)"

"Statue of Trajan with armour" found in the Schola of Trajan

"Portrait maybe of Trajan carved after his death"

"Sabina, wife of Hadrian, depicted as Ceres"

"Heads of children of the imperial family"

"Female statue draped" dating back to the period of Marcus Aurelius (161/180)

"Faustina Major" wife of Antoninus Pius (138/161). This is considered her finest portrait existing

"Herm-portrait of Hippocrates" and "Funerary statue of Julia Procula depicted as Igea" from the tomb of a doctor in the Isola Sacra area

"Portrait of old man" of the Flavian period (69/96)

ROOM IX

Sarcophagi

"Sarcophagus with Centauromachy" of the mid-second century AD from the Cemetery of Pianabella

"Sarcophagus of a child" of the second century AD with three scenes of the myth of Meleager

"Sarcophagus carved on all four sides" with scenes of putti, a Dionysian celebration and activities in a gym of the second century AD from the Necropolis of Porto

"Lenòs, oval sarcophagus with hunting scenes" of the third century AD

"Gravestone with traces of polychromy representing busts of the deceased and winged geniuses" about 240/250 AD

"Sarcophagus with episodes of the Iliad" from Pianabella, formerly in Berlin

"Circular altar with cherubs and garlands" that gave its name to the Tempio dell’Ara Rotonda, the Temple of the Round Altar

ROOM X

Portraiture of the imperial period

"Portrait of a bearded man" of the period of Hadrian, inspired by the so called "Antinoo’s type"

Bust of "Volcacius Myropnous" one of the finest portraits of the late Antonine period

"Man from the period of Gallenus (255/260)"

"Bust of Septimius Severus (193/211)"

"Statue of Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus, represented as Ceres"

"Relief gravestone with marriage covenant" of the Antonine period (98/180)

Statue in gray marble maybe "Isis Pelagia" from the Temple of Isis on the Isola Sacra

"Colossal statue with toga, maybe Maxentius (306/312)"

"Statue maybe of Fausta, wife of Constantine" from the so-called Home of Augustali

"Portrait of commander" of the fifth century AD

"Female statue of the Ino-Leucotea type" of the fourth century AD

"Portrait of a child" of the fourth century AD

"Statue of man with toga"

ROOM XI

Cult of Aphrodite-Venus

"Aphrodite of Cnidus" from the original of the fourth century BC by Praxiteles (about 395/326 BC)

"Capitoline Venus"

"Landolina Venus"

"Squatting Venus" from the original by Doidalsas

"Young Sabina as Venus Victrix" from the House of the Augustals

"Three Graces" mythical projections of Joy, Beauty and Grace

Paintings from the Necropolis of Isola Sacra with depiction of the Three Graces

Next to the Ostiense Museum there are various FRAGMENTS OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF ANCIENT MARBLE mainly from the bottom of the artificial canal of Fiumicino or Fossa Traiana, where in former times there was probably a Statio Marmorum, a deposit for marble

There are about 330 pieces dating from the year 80 to 164 AD arranged according to the various kinds of marble

Cardine Massimo

Main Cardo

65

The cardo was the main north–south-oriented street in ancient Roman cities, military camps, and coloniae

Axis of the urban plan designed at the time of Hadrian (117/138) that changed the neighborhoods in the north side of the city in the years 119/120

MONUMENTAL ENTRANCE for people coming from the Tiber River probably with arcades and elegant shops

At the end of the street PORTICOS OF PIUS IX Mastai Ferretti (1846/78) that were discovered during his pontificate. He came here himself once for a visit

Piccolo Mercato

Small Market

68

It was included in the urban plan of Hadrian of the years 119/120 and restored under Septimius Severus (193/211)

Horrea (warehouses) well preserved, not used for grain as there is no raised floor

It encompasses most (52 m - 170 feet) of the walls of the castrum

27 rooms quite large and long, now used in part as a deposit for archaeological materials. There are ramps to go upstairs

Tenement of the Grain Measurers

66

At the entrance a bushel (modius) in pottery is visible, a container and measurement unit for grain that gives the assurance that this building was originally used as horrea (warehouses) for grain

The plan of the storage room in the back can not be reconstructed because it was eroded by the Tiber River

Tenement of the balcony held by shelves

Building of the Hadrian period (117/138) with balconies supported by brackets made of travertine limestone

Barn

About 120 AD, with a layout similar to the one of the Small Market but there are suspensurae (small pillars to raise the floor) here and therefore it was used for grain

House built as a Basilica and Republican Small Houses

The HOUSE BUILT AS A BASILICA dates back to the restructuring of the year 120 AD, at the time of Hadrian

Building with six shops facing the road along with a long back yard across, overlooked by rooms maybe a residential section

Under the level built in the imperial period were found THREE SIMPLE HOUSES OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD with simple layout and building technique known as opus incertum

Shops and Wall of the Castrum

Shops dating back to the period of Hadrian (117/138) built against the south wall of the wall of the castrum

The north face was built adjoining the Small Market

Building with Oven

It was built at the beginning of Hadrian’s period

Large room divided by brick pilasters with a brick oven in opus listatum (alternating bricks and tufa rocks) maybe for bread

Forum Area

It was the center of political and social life in the city and it was surrounded by major religious and public buildings

Open only in the years 20/25 AD, after the demolition of many structures of the old rectangular castrum

It was strictly pedestrian and only on the Decumanus Maximus (main east-west road) one could ride with wagons

Of the numerous bases for honorary statues that used to be in the Forum, there are only some left:

The most interesting one is on the east side and it is dedicated to Ragonius Vincentius Celsus, prefect of the Annona (food administration) of Rome

Capitolium

54

The main religious building, probably dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, although there is no definitive proof of the attribution

It was built in 120 AD after the destruction the old temples (including the old Capitolium) north of the decumanus, the remains of which are still partially visible

Luxurious threshold at the entrance, in marble known as "African", but actually from Turkey

It was a prostyle (with pillars only along the front side) and hexastyle (with six pillars) temple

There are only small bits left of the fluted columns in the portico made out of pavonazzeto marble

At the center there are the remains of the marble altar with friezes representing weapons

In the podium there are THREE LARGE ROOMS used as votive deposits (favissae) and possibly also used as archives or as seat of the public treasury

“Curia”

69

It dates back to the early second century AD

Supposedly this building was covered with marble, with six columns on the front, interior square-shaped with two corridors on the sides

Initially it was thought to be the seat of the Consiglio dei Decurioni (Council of Settlers, a kind of city council), but recent studies have suggested it could have been the place where the College of Freedmen (not being able to have a career in politics) would have practiced the imperial cult

The actual location of the Curia is still unknown

Placed in the corridor on the right (towards the Forum) of the so-called Curia are the REMAINS OF THE WESTERN REPUBLICAN TEMPLE rising alongside the original Capitolium towards the end of the first century BC

Basilica

72

Built between the first and second century AD. Almost nothing is left

It was one of the most important buildings of ancient Ostia, where justice was administered

It was a building with three naves, the central one very large and completely covered with marble. This is what we can assume from the few remains found, but in the Middle Ages remains were removed and used to produce lime. At the far end there was the court

It was also built a DOUBLE PORTICO, whose pillars were adorned with bas-reliefs of cherubs supporting festoons of flowers

“Shrine of the Lares Augusti”

Circular monument at the center of the square, maybe a shrine for the worship of the divinities protectors of Emperors, but it was more likely a NYMPHAEUM

Temple of Rome and Augustus

53

Beginning of the first century AD. It was pseudoperipteral and probably 16 m (52 ​​feet) high

Only the foundation of the podium is left as well as the marble pediment of the back placed on a modern wall to the left of the temple, reconstructed by putting together fragments, including the very important "Statue of Victory", which was maybe an acroterion

Another statue found at the back of the temple (in the original place) is that of "Goddess Roma", depicted with one foot on the globe to represent the dominion of Rome on the world

To the west, during Hadrian’s period (117/138) a PORTICO was built with four brick columns and behind a number of TABERNAE (shops)

Forica

51

Latrine for public use, although within the Tenement of the Triclinia

It was obtained from a workshop in the second century AD

There is a long counter, with twenty seats placed on a high step leaning against the walls with, below, a channel for water drainage

There used to be a sliding door, the central hole in the threshold still visible

Forum Baths

50

About 160 AD, the largest in size, the last to be built after the Baths of Neptune and the Baths of Porta Marina and the most sumptuous

The complex went through many renovations in the late empire, in the fourth and maybe even in the fifth century

Although the structure would suggest it was a public facility, maybe it was not the case

Trapezoidal GYM paved with mosaics, with elliptical LACONICUM (room for steam baths) and CALDARIUM (room for hot baths)

It was lit by large windows. The heated rooms are oriented to the south as in the other baths, but are not aligned in a straight line, forming protrusions instead, in order to be heated evenly by the sun

Under the floor there is a CORRIDOR that would allow employees to fire up the boilers of the thermal baths and change the water

It is still possible to see the ovens and the hypocausta where the heat was channeled

The FRIGIDARIUM, with two pools, was in a large decorated room, of which fragments of columns are left as well as a shelf that was the frame for a vault

Among the remains objects were found such as hairpins bones, evidence that the building was also used by women

A narrow corridor leads to the GYM from which it is possible to admire the spectacular effect of the south side of the baths

On either side of the gym and there are shops and, on the south side, the probable SEAT OF A CORPORATION maybe also used for public readings with mosaic from the early third century representing "Sagittarius Zodiac Sign"

To the west, in the open space, there is an unidentified SMALL TEMPLE from which were taken parts of the frieze with scenes of the myth of Vulcan exhibited at the Museum. Maybe it was the smaller of the two places of worship of Vulcan that existed in Ostia

Forum of the Heroic Statue

Square surrounded by arcades and portico colonnades with brick pilasters to the north, towards the decumanus

It was opened in a very late period (end of fourth century AD), on the site where there were the Baths of the period of Hadrian (117/138)

At the center there is a "Heroic nude male statue" now headless

“Basilica” and the Hall of the Good Shepherd

Small apsidal building of the Hadrian’s period (117/138) with unusual layout

An inscription identifies it with the headquarters of the Boatmen Association of Lucullus Ferry, important for port traffic and for crossing the Tiber River

A narrow corridor to the left of the BASILICA leads to a SMALL HALL WITH AN APSE made in the fourth century in opus listatum  inside a tenenment of the time of Hadrian

Here was found a column with a relief of the Good Shepherd which led to believe, probably wrongly, that the building was used for Christian worship

Tenement of the Triclinia

52

Built in the early period of Hadrian (117/138)

It was the headquarters of the association of the fabri tignuarii, homebuilders

In the rooms on the right of the portico there were triclini, couches (marble sofas). The podia (seats) where diners would sit down are still visible

At the back a larger room was transformed later into a chapel with podium, probably for the imperial cult

Round Temple

73

Building of uncertain use: Senate seat for special events, temple for the worship of all gods (Pantheon) or temple for the worship of deified emperors (Augusteum)

Built in the third century AD (completed at the time of Gordian III - 238/244) instead of a colonnaded square accessible from the Basilica and discovered in 1800, when were found inside many statues and portraits of members of the imperial families

It consists of a square portico decorated with columns and niches, a portico with ten columns of cipollino marble (from Karystos, in the Greek island of Evia) and a circular cella with square and semicircular niches, covered by a dome

Tenement of the Lararium

70

Building quite unique, dated to about 120 AD

The entrance leads in a COURTYARD, onto which are a number of shops, one after the other

It can be assumed that they were shops that dealt with similar products, maybe a guild of craftsmen. The refinement of the area would suggest that they would have dealt with luxury goods

In the courtyard there is a WELL with consular date 197 AD and an AEDICULA built with red and yellow bricks, believed to be the Lararium of the community of shopkeepers who resided here

West Gate of the Castrum

Very similar to the Eastern Gate

On the left THREE TABERNAE of the late Republican period overlooking the decumanus

Horrea Epagathiana

Warehouse of Epagathius

124

It was built in the years 140/150

Given the presence of two entrance doors and two entrances in the inner courtyard, maybe this complex was a warehouse used to store valuable goods, such as fine textiles

It takes its name from the two owners, the only horrea in Ostia indicated as such by the inscription above the main entrance reconstructed from fragments

Epagathius and Epafroditius were two freedmen, probably of Greek origin, become rich through trade

Inside there is a COURTYARD with a mosaic floor representing "Geometric shapes, a tiger and a panther"

SIXTEEN ROOMS on the ground floor, surely for storage

It is not known if on the first and second floors there were the owners' apartments or other storage rooms

The south wall coincides with the north wall of the Republican castrum partially preserved

Shrine at a crossroad

Maybe a compitum, a shrine at a crossroads maybe due to Cartilio Poplicola (dominant political figure at the end of the Republican period) with a layout that stresses the importance of this intersection

To the right there is a monumental NYMPHAEUM of the fourth century AD built in bricks on an area that had always been left empty

House of the Porto mosaic

107

Immediately on the right into Via della Foce, a tenement built in bricks with tabernae (shops) and portico on the front

It was built  during the period of Commodus (180/192) and remodeled in the first half of the third century

Mosaic in the central taberna (shop) also of the first half of the third century with "Port with four-story lighthouse, boats, people who fish or swim and statue of Neptune with trident and dolphin"

Sacred Republican Area

121

Open space in the lower level with a WELL and a CISTERN maybe indicating the source of the Aqua Salvia that in antiquity may have been the reason to found the castrum here

Room of the Altars

Templar fence in the open with four altars in tuff of the Republican period that had to be quite important

At least one maybe dates back to 250 BC

Only the back end was covered by a roof with pillars

Tetrastyle Temple

End second/early first century BC

The brick facing of the podium was built with the opus reticulatum (reticulated work) technique

The columns were made of tufa with Corinthian capitals in peperino stone

Here were found a "Hellenistic Torso of Asclepius" and a "Head of Lucilla depicted as Igea", wife of Lucius Verus (161/166) and daughter of Marcus Aurelius (161/180), now in the Ostiense Museum

This makes it almost certain that the temple was dedicated to the god Asclepius-Aesculapius, later combined, according to some inscriptions, with the eastern cult of Jupiter Dolichenus

Temple of Hercules

Hexastyle with the podium in tufa on a stylobate made out of two travertine steps

31 x 16 m (102 x 52 feet), contemporary to the nearby Temple Tetrastyle

Nearby was found the base of a statue dedicated to Hercules by a freedman with the oldest marble inscription in Ostia

There is a cast of a statue of "Athlete resting" (original in the Ostiense Museum) of the Lysippus type (IV century BC), idealized portrait of Cartilius Poplicola

The "Altar dedicated to Deo Invicto Herculi" at the center of the portico with inscription of late third century was used for different purposes

The cult was oracular: the future was predicted here regarding military or commercial issues

To the left of the temple there is a PUBLIC BUILDING with a votive marble relief on one side (80/65 BC) famous example of so called plebeian art with "Stories of Hercules" (original in the Ostiense Museum)

Temple of the Round Altar

It was dedicated to an unknown deity

In the Republican period it was prostyle tetrastyle, then, at the end of the first century AD, the ground level was raised and the temple became distylous in antis

Here was found a ''Circular altar with cupids" now in the Ostiense Museum which gave the temple its name

In front of the temple some travertine blocks were found, (now in the museum) bases of lost Greek original bronze statues by Lisicle, Firomaco and Fradmone (rival of Phidias) brought here during Sulla’s period

An alley from the square leads to a HOUSE of antiquated architectural typology, maybe home to an association of priests connected with the sacred area

House of Cupid and Psyche

122

Fine residence of the late third century AD (although one of the capitals is dated to the late fourth or early fifth century), quiet and secluded

It might have belonged to some senior officials

It is a typical example of a stately home of the late antiquity

The domus (house) was implanted in a previous building with tabernae (shops)

After the entrance there is a corridor. On the right a small garden (viridarium) with a nympheaum, on the left three rooms of which the central, embellished with marble tiles on floor and walls. In this central room there is a cast of the "Statue of Cupid and Psyche" (now in the Ostiense Museum) that gave the house its name

At the end of the corridor ther is the main room, also with marble on the walls (crustae) and on the floor (opus sectile)

Baths of Buticosus

123

Example of Balnea, private small baths without gym, dating back to Trajan’s period (about 112) restored in the second century AD

The small complex was named after a mosaic portraying one "Epictetus Buticosus" presumably the Baths-Superintendent, decorating the room before the laconicum (room for sauna)

In the caldarium (room for hot baths), among several, there is a beautiful mosaic of about 115 AD stands out, depicting "Scenes of sea gods with Merman and Nereid"

Underground tank with device for lifting water (noria)

In the hallway paintings of plants and flowers of mid second century AD with "Clumps of leaves, fountains and vases"

Baths of Mithra

120

These baths date back to 125 AD, and restorations were made later

The building is well preserved in the underground part, where there were the services: water lifting system (noria), with the signs engraved on a wall by a wheel that moved water with buckets, eventually conveyed in the bath tubs through lead pipes

Frigidarium (room for cold baths), caldarium (room for hot baths), hallway with floor decorated with a mosaic representing "Ulysses and the Sirens" and a room renovated in the fourth/fifth century, or even later, for Christian worship

It is one of the few buildings certainly Christian in Ostia

From this room a staircase leads to a subterranean room, transformed in a MITHRAEUM during Hadrian’s period (117/138), rather early for the cult of Mithras, which developed mainly in the late third and fourth century. This perhaps explains the lack of certain attributes essential for this worship

This would be the oldest of the 17 mithraea in Ostia

Here is a copy of the "Sculpture of Mithra who kills a bull" (original in the Ostiense Museum) signed on the chest of the bull by Critone, an Athenian sculptor of the Attic school

It is illuminated by a skylight to make the atmosphere more evocative. The remains of the statue, however, were found in a sewer, where they had been thrown by Christians

Brick kiln

In a room with vault on the left lane going over to Via della Foce there are the remains of a large oven of the Hadrianic period (117/138) which used to produce tiles, found in a nearby warehouse

Temple and Hall of the Mensores

119

It dates back to about 112 AD and it is made out of two adjacent buildings:

To the right a TEMPLE prostyle and tetrastyle, most likely the place for collegial worship of the association of the mensores, grain measurers

To the left HALL where meetings were held. The room was renovated around 235 AD, the period when the mosaic was made, showing "Work of a mensor holding a rutellum, a stick for measuring quantities of grain"

On a memorial stone there is a dedicatory inscription to the patron of the association of grain measurers

Warehouses of ​​the Mensores

118

It was built during the period of Trajan (98/117) in mixed work technique (opus mixtum)

Various different size rooms around a central courtyard

Maybe the larger rooms were used for control activities of the mensores (grain measurers)

Southwest of the horrea there is a BUILDING WITH RECTANGULAR ROOMS, one of the few buildings in Ostia to be restored in the late period of the empire, maybe under Diocletian (284/305), when it was rebuilt In Opus Vittatum or Opus Listatum made by parallel horizontal courses of tuff blocks alternated with bricks

In the fifth century AD here a SMALL SIZE BATHING COMPLEX was opened with a distinctive architectural style of the late empire favoring curved lines

Warehouses known as Trajan's Market

117

Not accessible to the public. These warehouses actually date back to the period of Hadrian (about 125)

Maybe it was used as a stock-market rather than just for stocking goods

The main entrance was probably on the side of the River Tiber

"Imperial Palace"

116

200 m (650 feet) outside the excavated archaeological area

Grand building with warehouses and sales structures, dug in the years 1855/71 when the rich mosaics were transported to the Vatican Museums and again in the years after 1980

Its use as the Imperial Palace is not at all certain, given the structure of the complex, but here was found a fistula (pipe) with the name of Matidia Minor (Vibia Matidia) sister of emperor Hadrian

During the years 145/150 AD the building was enlarged in mixed work technique (opus mixtum) and the wing with baths around the PALESTRA (gym) was built

To the east of the gym is the CALDARIUM (room for hot baths) with black and white mosaic of "Athletes"

In the first Severan period (about 190/200) further transformation in brick with arcaded courtyard and MITHRAEUM (115) in which was found a statuette of Cautes and Cautopates with the consular date of 162

Here was found the mosaic floor now in the Church of St. Paul at the Three Fountains "Personifications of the Four Seasons" donated by Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78)

Navalia and Temple of Castor and Pollux

The ruins of these buildings were discovered in the years 2000/01 along the quay of the River Tiber in the area of ​​the so-called Imperial Palace and Tor Boacciana

It is a trapezoidal basin dug artificially measuring about 100 x 170 m (330 x 560 feet), including, on the east side, a monumental complex with NAVALIA, sort of garage for ships, not very big and a TEMPLE with two cellas of the first half of the first century AD and extensive renovations of the late second century AD

The temple was probably dedicated to the Dioscuri revered as protectors of navigation until the late antiquity

Apartments House of Bacchus and Ariadne

114

It was built during the period of Hadrian (117/138)

It spreads over two floors and it was built in mixed work technique (opus mixtum)

Maybe it was an annexe of the neighboring Serapeum with which it was connected by a passage closed in the fourth century

Downstairs in the triclinium there is a mosaic with "Gorgon"

In the next room there is a mosaic floor with "Fight between Eros (Sacred Love) and Pan (Profane Love), seen by Bacchus and Ariadne" 120/130 AD from an original pictorial Greek model of the fourth century BC

It is one of the most important mosaics in Ostia. It displays a very accurate setting of the design and some beutiful stylized floral motifs

Serapeum

Place of worship of Serapis, Egyptian deity resulting from a Hellenistic syncretism between the Egyptian Osiris-Apis and the Greek Zeus

It was inaugurated on January 24th 127, the birthday of Hadrian as a fragment of the inscription known as the Fasti Ostiensi mentions

It was built at the expense of a rich freedman, one Caltilius

The cult of Serapis declined in the fourth century AD

In the vestibule there is a mosaic with "Bull Apis"

In the courtyard damaged mosaic with "Scenes along the River Nile"

The TEMPLE itself was tetrastyle with two brick columns at the sides and maybe two Ionic travertine columns in the center of

To the east of the Serapeum and of the other buildings on the west side of Via del Serapide there were huge HORREA (warehouses) not yet excavated dating back to the late Trajan (98/117) period but restored repeatedely until the Severan period

Domus at the Serapeum

Originally this bulding was attached to the Serapeum then, maybe from the fourth century AD it was transformed into a separate domus, a single family home

In the main hall there is a large polychrome mosaic "Birds, masks and vegetables" with 14 of the 68 original panels

Apartments House of the Planta Pedis Mithraeum

It was built during Hadrian’s period (117/138), maybe rooms attached to the Serapeum with workshops, kitchens or spaces for the servants, and later, during the Severian period (193/235), transformed into a MITHRAEUM with mosaic "Snake and foot plant"

Niche at the back of the mithraeum of the half of the third century AD, leaning against one of the buttresses of Trajan’s Warehouses with altar made of steps and casts of the "Relief of the Sun and the Moon" that used to be at the sides of the missing relief of Mithra killing the bull

It is but one of numerous cases of mithraea annexes to temples of Serapis being commonly connected to the worship of the sun

Warehouses

Built in mixed work technique (opus mixtum) and opus spicatum (herring bone) floor

Probably warehouses for private use but not for wheat

Main entrance on the opposite side of Via degli Aurighi with pilasters made in brickwork

In the room west of the entrance, since the end of the second century AD a tiny thermal plant was built

Baths of the Trinacria

113

Built during Hadrian’s period with complex building transformations

During the Antonine period (138/192) the small pilasters for the floor (suspensurae) were restored

Open courtyard that is both entrance room and frigidarium (room for cold baths)

In the corridor adjacent to the courtyard there is the mosaic that gives its name to the complex:

"Female bust with three legs on the head" (one is missing), triskeles that since the fourth century BC was the symbol of Sicily or Trinacria

In the first heated room there is a mosaic with "Marine motifs"

On the partition dividing this room from the next there is an inscription in mosaic STATIO CUNNULINGIORUM alluding to the sex act known in Latin as cunnilinctus, recently interpreted as a precise indication of a place for male prostitution

In the tepidarium (room for medium temperature baths) there is a mosaic with "Three figures of athletes during an awards ceremony"

Warehouse of the Doli and House of Annius

112

Structure built during the years 128/129 consisting of a dolii (big round containers for oil and wine) warehouse and a large sort of workshop renovated as a home maybe during the Antonine period (138/192) when the paintings were executed with "Architectures and small ornaments on a white background"

On the front there are bricks of about 58 cm (23 inches) per side (bipedal) with writing Omnia Felice Anni (all the troubles of Annio are sorted) and scenes of work

Model single family homes

Extremely interesting architectural and urbanistic complex that anticipates modern solutions and has few comparisons in any archaeological area dating back to ancient Rome

Apartments built during Trajan’s period (98/117) for middle-class families, clerks and traders. Their numbers increased dramatically after the construction of the port

Apartment House of Serapis

108

126/127, named after an image in stucco painted of "Serapis" with frescoes on the side of "Isis as Fortuna on the left and with a sistrum (small musical instrument) on the right" in a chapel in the courtyard

The  COURTYARD has high pillars that extend up to the ceiling, with tabernae (shops) all around

Upstairs probably there were apartments inhabited maybe by Eastern people

It is one of the most impressive buildings in Ostia for its good conservation and the massive structure

Baths of the Seven Sages

109

Maybe built during Hadrian’s period (117/138) although the decorations date back to the Severian period (193/235)

Today it is possible to enter through the left end side, in a large circular room for cold baths (frigidarium), formerly covered with a dome

The floor in this room is made up of a mosaic of 11 m (36 feet) in diameter with "Hunting Scenes or Plants Motifs" dating back to about 130 AD

There is an arch at the entrance of the VESTIBULE which, before being incorporated in the baths, was a tavern

In the vestibule there are some well-preserved frescoes of the "Seven Sages, with their names and humorous tips for the proper functioning of the intestine" such as: "To defecate well, Solon pressed his belly"

Maybe these are copies of some original Greek paintings of the fourth century BC but they are anyway some of the highest quality paintings in Ostia

On the opposite side there is a laconicum (sauna) with a mosaic of "Naked male figure and a writing here you see the portrait of Julius Cardus probably the lifeguard" and a caldarium (room for hot baths)

Two tepidaria (room for medium temperature baths) with a bathtub in the second including a mosaic with "Cupids and Nereids riding on sea monsters"

On the right second frigidarium with frescoes of "Venus Anadyomene (coming out from the water) coming out of a sea full of fish" similar in quality to those of the Baths of the Lighthouse

Further on apodytherium (changing room) painted at the time of Hadrian (117/138) with "Bathroom and gym objects on a red background"

Apartment House of the Charioteers

110

It was built in the years 140/150 AD, at least 12 years after the Baths of the Seven Sages and the Apartment House of Serapis although it was definitely connected to them

Large arcaded COURTYARD surrounded by a corridor over which overlook the various rooms

It is among the best preserved structures in the whole of Ostia, as three floors are actually still visible

It takes its name from two paintings representing "Charioteers on chariots", which are located on the north side of the hallway

There are very fine paintings dating back to the Antonine period in the rooms, depicting "Cupids, hunting scenes and still lifes", including the noteworthy STANZA DELLA CACCIA (Room of the Hunt)

As far as the main use of the building there are two hypotheses: it was either rented to several tenants or it was the site of some sporting association

Via Tecta degli Aurighi

Covered Street of the Charioteers

Picturesque road covered with arches (tecta) that divides the Apartment House of the Charioteers from a building with tabernae (shops) and processing plants

It is an example of how, in some buildings, there were more articulate ways of internal communications complementing the main thoroughfares

Shrine of the three naves

111

Shrine of mid second century AD

The pre existing aedicula at the far end of the building with red and yellow bricks in opus reticulatum (also known as reticulated work) dating back to Hadrian's period (117/138) was incorporated in the shrine

Mosaic in front of the aedicula with "Motifs of sacrifices: altar, knife, pig, vases"

It looks like a mithraeum but it lack the elements of the cult of Mithras

Maybe it was dedicated to the worship of other Eastern religions or to the Dionysian religion or perhaps it was the registered office and worship place of a collegial organization

Surely here were held ritual banquets maybe cooked in the basement kitchen in front of the entrance

 Back on Via della Foce, as one turns to the first street on the right, there is a

Calcara

Kiln

Room belonging to the Apartment House of Serapis transformed in the Middle Ages in a furnace to produce lime

It is the best preserved of the at least fifteen kilns that were in Ostia

Market

The history of this place is uncertain. Maybe the tuffaceous pillars at the entrance are evidence that it was the oldest market in Ostia

Restorations took place during Trajan’s period (98/117)

A corridor door leads to an open courtyard with eight shops per side

The east wall was built in opus incertum (irregular work) of the second half of the second century BC and it belongs to the neighboring Republican House

Republican House and Mithraeum of the Painted Walls

Domus (house) of the second half of the second century BC very much altered

PERISTYLE (colonnade enclosing a court) with well made out of travertine

MITHRAEUM at the far end retaining on the right wall the facing made in opus incertum (irregular work) of the previous house

"Marble Altar” with reliefs

There are, still preserved, pieces of painted plaster dating back to the Antonine period (138/192):

On the back wall "Small squares with landscapes"

On the right wall there are the best paintings "Levels of mithraic initiation" and "Four panels with four male figures, perhaps faithful"

On the left wall there are few traces of paint

An inscription found here quotes the priest C. Celius Ermerote also mentioned in the mithraeum of the so called Imperial Palace

Baths of the "Christian Basilica"

It was built during Hadrian’s period (117/138) entirely in bricks

In the main hall behind the open gym there is a basin with semicircular niches covered with marbles

The frigidarium (room for cold baths) was rebuilt at the beginning of the third century with mosaics including "Marine motifs"

The so-called "Christian basilica" in late antiquity occupied three rooms with space for heating systems (praefurnia)

"Christian Basilica"

106

Fourth century AD

It has an irregular plan divided on two long naves with a nymphaeum on the far left and a room with apse on the far right

In the left nave there is an inscription on a lintel with the names of the four rivers of paradise and the  mention of the Trigrignani family, maybe the owners of the building

Although in the past it was mistakenly identified as a Christian basilica, after the discovery of new inscriptions, nowadays it is thought to be one of the following: an aristocratic domus (house) of the late antiquity period belonging to the Trigrignani family, the headquarters of some heretical sect or even a school for catechumens

Temple of the Fabri Navales

105

It is a building of the end of the second century AD, closely connected with the Schola of Trajan across the street, dedicated to worship for the Fabri Navales, shipbuilders

Rectangular COURTYARD surrounded by a pillared portico, at the end of which is the actual temple

In a corner of the courtyard there is the base of a statue, with an inscription mentioning "Marthius Philippus" patron of the Fabri Navales in the early Severian period (end of the second century AD)

In the courtyard were found piles of columns and capitals, maybe proving the use of the building as a deposit of marble during the late empire period

Excavations carried out in the nineties in the area behind the temple have revealed traces of a large FULLONICA (laundry) of the second half of the first century AD, the largest in Ostia and one of the largest ever found in any archaeological Roman site

The building comprises an area of about 64 x 18 m (210 x 60 feet) extending up to the decumanus and only in the excavated section were found 50 basins for the saltus fullonicus, the singular way of jumping or dancing on clothes to wash them properly

House on the Decumanus and Commercial Building

There have been five building phases for this domus (house). During the first four phases it was not a house but it was used for retailing, a small shopping mall

The traces of the oldest building, of the second half of the second century BC, are almost completely gone

The other phases date back to about 50 BC, to the period of Trajan (98/117) and to the Severian period (193/235)

During the last reconstruction of the fourth century here was established a noble domus

The nearby VIA DEGLI AURIGHI (Charioteers Road) was open only during the period of Augustus (27 BC/14 AD), because originally a wall facing the decumanus barred access

Apartment House of the Trifore

It was built during mid-second century AD

Long apartment house with tabernae (shops) facing the decumanus and back room-apartments on the alley parallel to the decumanus

Rooms with three windows (trifore)

Trapezoidal Insula

It was built around the years 128/130 in mixed work technique (opus mixtum)

Two large tubs, one indoor and one outdoor

Maybe it was a stable and the tubs were troughs

Warehouses

This horrea (warehouses) is located to the right of Via degli Aurighi in front of the trapezoidal insula

It was built during Trajan’s period (98/117) in opus reticulatum (reticulated work) with tufa small blocks alternating with bricks

Twelve rooms, six on each side of the center aisle. Originally there was a second floor now gone

It was maybe destined for non-food goods, certainly not for grain

Insula of the Painted Vaults

101

It dates back to about 120 AD. It was restored several times

The layout is very unusual for that time, with no internal courtyard, but with corridor that divides in two the ground floor, onto which face the various rooms, all with windows

There are frescoes on the vaults (hard to find in dwelling houses) and on the walls dating back to about 145/150, some repainted in the Severian period (193/235): on red and yellow backgrounds (colors popular in the Antonine period - 138/192 - and usually present in reception rooms) and on white backgrounds (for private rooms)

To the north there is a taberna (shop) with counter

On the second floor there is a kitchen (culina) with counter and stove well preserved and a drain for water

Regarding the use of the house there are conflicting versions, because of a picture with "Erotic scene" painted around 240/250 AD in one of the rooms: it was thought that it was a house of pleasure, but it would be strange as the location is one of the most elegant in Ostia

More likely the room with the picture was just a private bedroom

A corner room was transformed into a thermopolium with a counter for sale. A thermopolium was a commercial establishment where it was possible to purchase ready-to-eat food

Insula of the Muses

100

Building dating back to about 128 AD with ARCADED COURTYARD, a solution, in Ostia, used for large multi-storey tenement, but in this case it is actually a domus, a stately house, the largest and most sumptuous in this neighborhood, just one floor high, inhabited by a family of wealthy middle class

For the frescoes in the various rooms, some of the most refined in Ostia, the different exposure to light was taken into account: where there is more light colors are darker, where there is less light colors are lighter

CORRIDOR with a succession of rooms and a small LOUNGE decorated with frescoes depicting "Apollo and the Muses", maybe the most important figurative cycle in Ostia following as model the fourth Pompeian style of the second half of the first century AD, albeit simplified

"The individual architectural elements are subjected to a process of simplification and geometrization so that they lose their individuality, to become abstract elements organizing the space on the walls" (Gian Luca Grassigli - TMG)

Further on there is the large room of the TRICLINIUM decorated with wall paintings, depicting "Pillars, columns, windows and open doors, through which small figures of women seem to come and go"

In the largest room, the TABLINUM there are graffiti which, among other things, reproduce the "Trajan's Column"

Insula of the Graffiti

It was built around 128 AD, like the rest of the neighborhood

Functional layout. Downstairs lack of service rooms that maybe were on the first floor

Insula of the Yellow Walls

99

Rectangular layout and two floors. Central space connected to other rooms which received light from internal windows

It was subjected to continuous renovations also pictorial until the third century AD

The most recent renovation, during the Antonine period (138/192), was characterized mainly by yellow walls

In ROOM 8 there are frescoes with "Bacchante with tympanum", "Heracles who snatched a horn to the river god Achelous, his rival for the love of Deianira" and "Dancing Silenus"

Houses with Gardens

102

Residential complex of EIGHT HOMES, dating back to Hadrian’s period (117/138), on a trapezoidal space, with houses and gardens that is striking for its affinity with the urban architecture of the twentieth century

Housing area at the center of the garden divided into two blocks

The ground floor wasn’t originally occupied by shops which opened only during the Severian period (193/235)

The green space was enriched by six fountains

Painted decorations about 130/140 subdivided in red and yellow panels

Insula of the Ierodùle

During the excavation of 1969 all the frescoes with "Dionysian subjects and priestesses (ierodùle)" painted by a single master in the years 130/140 AD were found still preserved on the entire surface of the walls

One of the collapsed ceiling was recovered with its rich decoration

It was built during Hadrian’s period (before 130) with layout similar to the houses with garden except for the columns at the entrance of the living room

Domus of the Castors

97

It is the result of a total refurbishment of a house built during Hadrian’s reign (117/138)

There is a L-shaped corridor at the end of which there are two main rooms:

A BEDROOM, with a mosaic with "Castors horseless" (particularly revered at Ostia for protecting businesses)

A LIVING ROOM, with another mosaic in African style of the fourth century depicting "Venus in a seashell, surrounded by dolphins and various monsters"

To the side of this last room, there are two more small rooms. In one of these small rooms there is a mosaic in geometrical figures and symbols perhaps Christians (palm and monogram of St. Peter PE?)

The interior of the house was originally built in mixed work technique (opus mixtum) and eventually transformed with the demolition of several walls and the construction of other walls with bricks or in opus vittatum, also called opus listatum, an ancient Roman construction technique introduced at the beginning of the fourth century, made by parallel horizontal courses of tuff blocks alternated with bricks

Inside the domus (house) there is a SMALL BATHING COMPLEX, the only private facility of this kind found in Ostia until now. This fact led to think that the domus might have been actually a hotel or the schola of a collegial association

It has been suggested that the owner was a shipowner who had become rich transporting grain from Africa

Domus of the Nymphaeum

96

Second half of the fourth century AD

This domus (house) occupied the area of ​​two pre-existing apartment houses built in the Hadrian’s period (117/138) with a nymphaeum (fountain) of the first decades of the second century including niches with statues and slides of marble for amusement

The floor features inlaid marble (opus sectile)

In the largest room there were paintings now in the Ostiense Museum with "Scenes of everyday life in a country manor"

Terme Marittime

Maritime Baths

103

This bathing complex was built around 130, refurbished around 210 and during the fourth century

It used to feature terraces sloping toward the sea. It is now only partially accessible and damaged

The inscription that gave the name to this complex actually refers to the Terme di Porta Marina

In a room with apse there is a mosaic with "Athletes at the sides of a table with prizes of competitions" and in an adjacent room a mosaic with "Masks of the god Ocean with fantastic sea creatures"

After the complex was abandoned two kilns were installed here

Porta Marina

Sea Gate

88

It was located 150 m (500 feet) away from the ancient beach and it was the sturdiest of the four city gates, being the most exposed to attacks from the sea

One compartment, built in tufa blocks masonry, flanked by two square towers faced with large blocks in square work (opus quadratum) instead of small tufa blocks in reticulated work (opus reticulatum) as with the other gates

It was restored around the first century AD

Funerary Monument

89

It dates back to about 40/30 BC

Interesting façade of the exedra with semicircular or rectangular areas, open on the front, with seats decorated with dolphins and lion's paws

Later a railing made out of tufa was added with the front walls made out of travertine

Judging from the remains it was assumed that the monument would have had a cylindrical body and a conical roof with decoration scales

Maybe it was the tomb of Lucilius Gamala

Domus Fulminata

House Struck by Lightning

95

Towards the beach, around the end of the first century AD, some domus (houses) were built

Among the most interesting is the Domus Fulminata (house struck by lightning) of about 70 AD, so named because a small mound was found which commemorates the event of the fall of lightning (f-ulgur d-ium c-onditum), the same inscription found on the stone that covered the bronze Hercules now in the Round Hall of the Vatican Museums

It is quite rare for the external room with triclinia, (the set of the three beds placed along the three sides of the table, on which the diners would lie down) built inside the peristyle

Building of the Opus Sectile

Also known as DOMUS DEI LEONI (House of the Lions)

It was built during Hadrian’s reign (117/138) with substantial restorations during the fourth century

Rather than a domus it is more likely to have been the headquarters of a collegial association

In 1960 here was found the most beautiful work of art in Ostia:

A "Marble coating of a large room with splendid figures in opus sectile (inlaid marble)" of about 385 AD, now in the Museo dell’Alto Medioevo (Museum of the Middle Ages)

The ceiling collapsed when the room was not yet paved

On the south side of the building there are traces of a large dam built maybe as early as the first century AD to protect the buildings outside Porta Marina against storm surges

In the fourth century maybe the sea had already retreated as the dam was lowered and it was built over

Loggia of Cartilio

Built during Hadrian’s reign (after 130)

Resting and meeting place covered with two rows of red and yellow brick pillars

Sepulchre of Cartilius Poplicola

92

Square layout, with inner core of concrete covered with marble of which only the front has been reconstructed

The reconstruction of the upper part is controversial

It was erected at public expense

Inscription in honor of Cartilius Poplicola, very well-known person, whose family name means "friend of the people". This tomb was granted to him by the people of Ostia

To the right and to the left of the inscription, eight fasci (bundles of sticks) on each side (sixteen in total), which recall the eight times that Cartilius Poplicola held the highest office in town, that of duoviro

The fasces lictorii were the symbolical weapon carried by the lictors, the bodyguards of magistrates with imperium. It consisted of a bundle of wooden sticks tied with strips of leather, normally around an ax. Later it became a symbol of military power and high authority, the imperium, in fact

In the upper part there is a rather rough relief, with two stages of some military action to which, perhaps, Cartilius Poplicola himself participated, probably one of the raids of Sextus Pompey in the Lazio region before 39 BC: on the left "Soldiers deployed on land" and on the right "Naval battle"

Baths of Marina Gate or Marciana Baths

93

The baths of the district outside the city, known as TERME DI PORTA MARINA (Baths of Marina Gate) from an ancient inscription, are just a few meters away from what was the ancient beach

It is one of the earlier known buildings of Ostia

It was begun at the time of Trajan (98/117) over a pre-existing building and it is therefore the oldest of the three great public baths of Ostia. It was finished towards the end of the reign of Hadrian (117/138)

A marble head representing Marciana, sister of Trajan and mother of Matidia, Hadrian's mother-in-law, was found during excavations (hence the name TERME DELLA MARCIANA, Baths of Marciana) and it is now in the Ostiense Museum. It would date back to the first period of the building

The building underwent three main phases of restoration, the last one taking place as late as the sixth century under Theodoric (493/526)

It consists of a GYM and, on a mezzanine, of ROOMS FOR BATHS, accessible through side entrances

The room that housed the FRIGIDARIUM (room for cold baths) is 14 m (46 feet) long with a remarkable mosaic "Geometric and polychrome designs"

In an adjacent room (maybe a changing rooms, apodyterium) was found a mosaic with "Group of athletes, who practice different sports, during a ceremony for awards"

In the corresponding room, on the other side of the frigidarium, there is a mosaic with "Fishes" of the mid-third century AD

In the next room there is a mosaic with "Nereids" of the mid-third century AD

The southern part of the baths was initially used for services but later, maybe from the fourth century, it developed as an autonomous bathing complex

Even when the town of Ostia was abandoned, in this area there was a certain vitality, thanks to the connection with Portus by the Severiana Way, the coastal thoroughfare built by Septimius Severus (193/211) between 198 and 209 using previously existing coastal routes

Synagogue

94

It was built in the mid-first century AD, near the beach and completely rebuilt in the fourth century AD with a larger layout

It was the meeting point of the Jewish community in Ostia

It is the only remaining ancient synagogue in Italy and in the whole Western Mediterranean area

Two rooms:

ROOM FOR MEETINGS

MAIN HALL, where, in an aedicule with apse was the Ark with the Torah and with a counter or pulpit (bimah) for the reading of the Law, facing south-east towards Jerusalem

In another adjacent room, there is a counter and an oven, possibly to prepare the unleavened bread

In a BUILDING WEST OF THE SYNAGOGUE, separated by a corridor, there were fountains and tanks and maybe it was used to supply water for religious purposes

Sanctuary of Bona Dea

90

One of the two temples dedicated to Ostia to this goddess of fertility

Mystery cult, reserved for women, which demanded confidentiality

The sanctuaries were in fact peripheral and surrounded by boundary walls

It was built in opus reticulatum (reticulated work) around 20 BC/50 AD, restored in the third or fourth century AD

"Forum of Porta Marina"

Triple entrance for an area almost square 44 x 39.50 m (144 x 130 feet) with perimeter wall in mixed work (opus mixtum) dating back to the period of Trajan and Hadrian (98/138)

There is a quadrangular structure made of bricks in the center

Maybe it was an outdoors worship area for ​​Vulcan, patron deity of Ostia, with an altar, restoration in the imperial period of a much more ancient temple

Adjacent to the east side of the outer wall there is a cistern

It is possible that this structure was both utilitarian and sacred but uncertainty remains about the effective identification and purpose

Caupona of Alexander

87

At first it was a shop and later a tavern (in the late severian period, beginning of the third century AD) obtained in the second century AD from one of the towers of Porta Marina (Sea Gate)

In reality it was a popina (wine bar) because caupona meant hotel. Maybe it was an establishment for the pleasures of wine and love

It takes its name from an inscription found on the mosaic floor

Inside there is a counter well preserved and a sink

The mosaic floor depicts three distinct scenes:

"Venus and Cupid"

"Two wrestlers with names Alexander and Helix"

"Two dancers, one with a big hanging phallus, in an attitude that is very reminiscent of Egyptian dances"

Portico and Apartment House of the Fountain with Lamp

86

It was built around 120 AD over another building with portico of the Augustan period (27 BC/14 AD) still visible in part

It is a long building with portico, which takes its name from the marble fountain on the street with a central pillar that mimics a lamp oil with seven spouts

On the ground floor there were shops, on the upper floors apartment for rent (cenacula)

Apartment House with Shops

Commercial building of the Hadrian period (117/138) in opus mixtum (mixed work) built on the site of an earlier domus (house) of the Augustan period (27 BC/14 AD) visible for the excavations carried out under both tabernae (shops) on the façade

Two doli (big vases for oil) set in the floor during Hadrian’s period

Apartment House with Shops and Windows

85

Commercial building of the second century AD with windows to display goods on an internal small corridor, built over the previous domus (house) of the first century BC with two phases of construction

Only a mosaic with "Polychrome pattern imitating a railing" and a floor made out of marble square tiles remain of the domus

Schola of Trajan

84

Mid-second century AD, built above an earlier destroyed domus (house)

Home to the association of the fabri navales (shipbuilders), a major association which included shipbuilders, shipowners and carpenters, and had control of the merchant fleet

Their temple was opposite this building, on the other side of the decumanus (main east-west road of the city)

Here was found a "Statue of Trajan" (currently there is a cast, the original is in the Ostiense Museum), who is thought to be revered by the corporation, for the benefit obtained from his work to expand the port

In the façade there are four portasanta marble columns

Marble floor, originally with statues and columns

Inside large COURTYARD, with a central long basin and internal niches

At the back CENTRAL ROOM built in the third century AD in opus vittatum, also called opus listatum, an ancient Roman construction technique introduced at the beginning of the fourth century, made by parallel horizontal courses of tuff blocks alternated with bricks

Right at the entrance of the central room there are columns and black and white mosaic depicting "Winged creatures and animals"

In a SMALL ROOM ON THE EAST CORNER there are frescoes of the third and fourth century imitating opus sectile (inlaid marble)

HOUSE OF THE BUCRANIA

On the left side of the courtyard, there is a short section of the domus (house) built around 80/60 BC (to which another house overlapped in the period of Augustus) known as House of the Bucrania (ox skulls) for the fragments of a splendid pictorial frieze found here, of which the mosaic floor with geometric composition is visible

Baths of the Six Pillars

83

Built during Trajan’s period (98/117) on the site of an ancient building, maybe a domus (house) of the first half of the second century BC not visible anymore

The six pillars are in the long frigidarium (room for cold baths)

Alley and Courtyard of Dionysus

Here there is a situation similar to that of the adjacent blocks: one domus (house) with two construction phases of the first century BC to which overlapped tabernae (shops) during Hadrian’s period (117/138), restored in the third century AD, each overlooking the decumanus (main east-west road of the city) and tabernae (shops) in the area of the ancient atrium

The peristyle (courtyard with columns) of the domus became an internal courtyard with insulae (apartment blocks) in some areas of the yard and a long rectangular pool

On the wall of the southwest side of the ambulatory there are examples of parietal marble sections known as crustae

Insula of Dionysus

80

It was built at the end of the second century AD in part of the northeast section of the courtyard ambulatory: four small rooms lined with a single entrance from the courtyard

Elaborate mosaic with figures "Young Dionysus on a chariot pulled by tigers"

Insula of the Shrine

Entrance on the same northeast side of the ambulatory

A vestibule is partly occupied by a chapel with a portal entrance, with semicolumns in bricks and pediment

Here was found a terracotta statue maybe depicting goddess Fortuna-Isis

Insula of the Eagle

81

Mid-third century AD

In a small room there is a mosaic "Motifs with plants and head of Medusa"

In another room mosaic "Eagle with wings spread in the central diamond, nude figures maybe representing Seasons and four scenes of feline assaulting fawn"

Warehouses and Mithraeum of the Seven Gates

82

Small private building with warehouses (horrea) maybe dating back to the first half of the century AD with central corridor and six small rooms at the sides

It was built using the opus reticulatum (reticulated work) technique with rectangular tufa stones on the corners

Around 160/170 AD the room on the east corner was changed into a MITHRAEUM where a painting remains with "Reeds and garden with palm tree" to represent the cave where Mithras was born, a grotto with flowers and other Mithraic images

Two Fishmongers Shops

79

Shops (tabernae) opened on either side of the central entrance to the “Macellum” around the third century AD. Furnished with marble counters and tubs for live fish

In the left taberna there is a mosaic "Dolphin catching an octopus" and under a writing against the evil eye, “inbide, calco te”, envious, trample you (dolphins disturbed fishing)

"Macellum"

78

This complex was considered a meat market (macellum) until recent discoveries that have proven that the current arrangement dates back only to the late fourth century, while the original construction of the first and second century AD was a commercial building with tabernae (shops)

Trapezoidal layout, in a very busy area

Central square with marble floor, a gutter for the discharge of waste water and a fountain in the middle

At the far back there is a PODIUM WITH COLUMNS, where maybe goods would be displayed

On one of the columns there is an engraving: "Read and know that people talk a lot in the market", but it was not found exactly here and many doubt that it would define this place as a macellum (other scholars believe that the inscription refers to a Christian miracle of a dumb person who spoke again), also because this building differs from other known meat markets

Maybe it was just a grand fountain (nympheum)

Collegial Temple and Mithreum of Fructotus

74

This Collegial Temple dates back to the Severian period (193/235) as deduced by the use of thin red bricks typical of that period

It was transformed just a few years after (around 250 AD) into a mithraeum funded by one Fructotus (maybe the same one of the collegial association of the stuppatores, manufacturers of tow) as reported by a fragmentary inscription

Domus

The domus (house) was built maybe in the first half of the fourth century AD within a pre existing building of which little is known

A fountain is inserted into the trapezoidal courtyard

There are various decorations in opus sectile (inlaid marble)

"Byzantine Baths"

76

The name is arbitrary

The first phase of construction dates back to the second century AD, the present appearance to the fourth century, with restorations in opus vittatum, also called opus listatum, an ancient Roman construction technique introduced at the beginning of the fourth century, made by parallel horizontal courses of tuff blocks alternated with bricks

Large FRIGIDARIUM with bases for six columns and mosaic pavement with large tesserae (tiles)

CALDARIUM (heated area) with two symmetrical side wings, maybe a division for genders

Behind the frigidarium, large SQUARE used as a gym. This is one of the few private balnea (baths) of ​​Ostia to have one

On the southwest corner of the square there is the large WATER TANK of the baths

Insula of the Viridarium

This insula (apartment block) was built in the first century AD in opus reticulatum (reticulated work) technique with rectangular tufa stones on the corners

Long courtyard which maybe used to be a garden (viridarium)

Just outside the insula, in the area not yet excavated, there is a mosaic representing "Actaeon attacked by dogs and transformed into a stag for having seen Artemis bathing"

Domus of the Round Temple

71

It was built over a pre existing insula (apartment block) at the end of the third century AD. There was a second phase of construction in the fourth century

It was a very rich domus (house) with traces of mosaics left on the floor in some rooms and in the portico

The peristyle (courtyard with columns) is decorated with a decorative bath tub and a fountain with four round sides

Fountain and Toilets

Fountain of the Trajans period (98/117) with five niches for statues ("Naked Venus" in the central one)

New marble decoration in the fourth century AD

The forica (toilets) was built against the nympheum in the fourth or fifth century AD using as seats fragments of sarcophagi and inscriptions overturned

House of Jupiter Blaster

75

It was built between the middle of the second and the middle of the first century BC

Countless renovations. It owes its name to a stone found inside with an inscription mentioning Jupiter Blaster

Mosaic on the threshold with "Apotropaic Penis" (against the evil eye)

House of the niche with mosaic

Maybe built in the period of Augustus (27 BC/14 AD) at the same time of one of the renovations for the House of Jupiter blaster

Renovations in the late second and in the fourth century AD

In the niche at the far end of the tablinum polychrome mosaic and female statuette

The tablinum was an anteroom in a house of ancient Rome, opening out of the atrium opposite the main entry and often containing the family statues and archives

Nymphaeum of the Cupids

49

It was built during the early fourth century AD

It consists of a closed square room, with floors and walls decorated with rich marbles

On the walls many colonnaded niches with statues among which there were two copies of ''Eros stringing his bow" from the original by Lysippos now in the Museum Ostiense

In the middle of the room there is a well preserved tub with a basin (labrum)

House of the Columns

48

Very sumptuous house with two phases of construction, the first dating back to about 230/250 AD and the second to the first half of the fourth century

There had been however other phases of construction for a building that originally had probably a different use

Floor with large tiles in opus sectile, inlaid marble, a technique popular during the late empire

COURTYARD with a well and a NYMPHEAUM (raised in the fourth century) paved with marble

At the far back there is the MAIN ROOM, with two large columns at the entrance

Tenement

It is located opposite the House of the Columns, with tabernae (shops) facing the road, dating back to the period of Antoninus Pius (139/161)

The triangular south section is occupied by a large forica (bathroom)

House of the Fishes

47

Two building phases between 240 AD and the second half of the third century AD

It is the renovation of an insula (apartment house) with a colonnaded courtyard

Room with mosaics of geometrical patterns and various symbols

Pillared peristyle (courtyard with columns), which overlooks a room with a floor made out of 48 marble panels representing geometric patterns

Courtyard with three fountains

The entrance of the house (part of the premises added in the fourth century) is paved by a large mosaic, at the center of which is represented a "Goblet with a fish on the inside and two fishes outside"

It has been hypothesized that it might be the house of a wealthy Christian family, but recent studies have denied it

House on Via della Caupona or House of the Carnation

Next to the House of the Fishes with seven building phases until the fifth century AD

Anteroom to the right of the vestibule with black and white mosaic floor and cubicle with floor decorated in opus sectile (inlaid marble)

Caupona of the Peacock

46

It is located opposite the House of Fishes

One of the few establishments for food with accommodation (cauponae) found in Ostia

It takes its name from a painting of a "Peacock", a symbol of immortality, found in a niche in the back yard

Paintings of the Severian period (193/235) with a peculiar purple tone

At the beginning of the third century AD this caupona was obtained out of a private two-floor house of the mid-imperial period

On the ground floor after the entrance there is a toilet and further on there is a decorated room (with a remarkable representation of “Winged creature floating in mid-air”) with a counter and shelves for displaying food and a tub for washing dishes

Room decorated with "Figurine of Muses"

Outside there is a courtyard with a counter for customers

Upstairs there were rooms for housing

Portico and Apartment House of Hercules

44

West side of the main cardo, the main north–south oriented street in Ancient Roman cities, military camps, and colonies

PORTICO already existing at the beginning of the imperial period and grandly rebuilt around 160/170 AD with twelve arches in brickwork

APARTMENT HOUSE with tabernae (shops) behind a long, narrow rectangular square with fountain: it was a market faced by the back rooms of the shops

It is so named for a small relief in tuff representing Hercules found during excavations

Fullonica

Laundry

45

It is located opposite the Portico of Hercules. It opened in the third century AD in one of tabernae (shops) facing the cardo, the main north–south oriented street

The tabernae had replaced a previous portico of which there are traces in tuff pillars and columns of travertine incorporated into structures built later

In the fullonica (laundry) there are tanks, shelves and terracotta containers functional to the work that used to be carried out here

Baths of the Lighthouse

43

Built in the period of Marcus Aurelius (161/180)

This building went through many renovations and it was probably private

It includes a taberna (shop), inside which there is a counter covered with marble

Further on there is a FRIGIDARIUM (room for cold baths) with a mosaic in black and white, maybe representing the "Lighthouse of Portus in the middle of a sea full of fish and sea monsters". Strangely the lighthouse of Portus is represented with five floors while in reality it only had four

Then there is a SMALL FRIGIDARIUM where there is a bathtub covered with marble and on the back wall a splendid fresco with large figurative compositions characteristic of the Severian period (193/235) "Venus in a shell supported by a Nereid and a Merman"

On the right "Myth of Europa abducted by Zeus transformed into a bull surrounded by marine figures"

On the same wall several superimposed layers of plaster are visible, which prove the consistent and extended in time use of this complex and many restorations

Mithraeum of the Animals

42

Behind the Baths of the Lighthouse. It was built around 160 AD

It was so named for a mosaic with some "Animals: Lion, Rooster, Crow, Scorpion, Snake and head of Bull"

It is near the fence of the Sanctuary of Cybele because there were similarities between the two cults such as the killing of the bull and the fact that Attis could be assimilated to Mitra

Field of the Magna Mater

On the south side there is a portico made out of brick columns and on the side of the main cardus, the main north–south oriented street, there are shops dating back to Hadrian’s period (117/138)

Area of ​​4,500 square meter (48,500 square feet) that was covered with sand for the taurabolia, sacrifices of bulls in honor of the emperor

The west tower of the Laurentina Gate was used as fossa sanguinis (blood pit) during the rite of the taurabolia: initiates were lowered into the pit and would let blood of the sacrificed bull rain on them through a pegboard

In the early days it was thought that the strength of the bull would pass to the initiates, then, later on, the ritual took on a symbolic meaning of purification

Temple of the Magna Mater

41

The Magna Mater was also known as Cybele, oriental goddess of fertility, introduced in Rome around 204 BC

The celebrations in her honor used to take place in March with processions of cannophori (bearers of reeds) and dendrophori (bearers of pine trees, a symbol of the death of Attis)

The cult settled in Ostia the time of Claudius (41/54)

The final settlement of this area took place during Trajan’s reign (98/117)

The six colonnades originally present in this temple are gone now, but the podium in opus reticulatum (reticulated work) with three arches is still visible

Sanctuary of Attis

In the eastern sector. It was built at the end of the second century AD or during the early third century

Attis was a shepherd, lover and son of Cybele, but, as he was unfaithful, he was driven crazy by the goddess, so much so that he ended up evirating himself

The resurrection of Attis coincided with orgiastic rites and the feast of the Hilaria during which the faithful mutilated and evirated themselves to become roosters or priests of the goddess

By the shrine of Attis there are two minor unidentified chapels

Temple of Bellona

39

Second half of the third century AD, in honor of the goddess Bellona, ​​goddess of war identified since the late Republic with Ma goddess of an orgiastic cult worshiped in Cappadocia associated as subordinate to the cult of the Magna Mater

From inscriptions it is clear that the cult of Bellona was popular among humble categories such as lictors, slaves and freedmen

The temple is in distylous with brick columns

Schola of the Hastiferi

Headquarters of the Association of the Spears Beares

40

It is part of the same complex of the Temple of Bellona, ​​an enclosed environment, a single cella

Members of this association used to run the ceremonies for the worship of Bellona

During processions they used to dance

Access to women was denied here

Laurentina Gate

38

The best preserved of the gates of Ostia

Leading to the territory of Laurentum, a location not yet identified with certainty, perhaps Tor Paterno, Capocotta or Castel di Decima but, most probably corresponding to Lavinium (Pratica di Mare), the inhabitants of which were called Laurentes Lavinates

It sits on the low floor of the first century BC, flanked by TWO SQUARE TOWERS

Outside the door there are civic buildings for about 50 m (165 feet) and further on there is the NECROPOLIS OF THE CLAUDIAN FAMILY

Inside on the right there is an apartment house with shops of the Severian period (193/235) that leaned against the east side of the gate after the raising of the road level

House of the Gorgons

37

It was built during the third or fourth century AD with several building phases and walls with interesting mixture of building techniques

Small rooms trapeze-shaped with mosaics of "Heads of Gorgons" (Gorgòneia)

In the central chamber of the east wing there is a mosaic representing “Medusa” (one of the Gorgons) with the writing Gorgoni bita that, in correct Latin, should be Gorgonem vita (avoid the Gorgon)

Sémita dei cippi

Pedestrian street of the milestones

Important commercial street with many horrea (warehouses) at the sides

It is the only street in the whole of Ostia of which we know with certainty the original name for two travertine stones located in the first section with the inscription "This is the street of the warehouses"

Warehouses

Private warehouses dating back to the mid first century AD, only partially excavated

The central corridor is roofless. There are five rooms per side and one opposite the entrance

Bakery

36

It was built around 120 AD

Paved areas for the largest bakery discovered so far in Ostia built entirely in mixed work technique (opus mixtum)

Lava stone millstones, conical at the bottom and with a mobile element known as catillus at the top

The top part rotated with a lever moved by slaves or mules blindfolded to avoid dizziness. It was an invention that came from Volsinii (Orvieto)

In some rooms there are cups with two cylindrical holes, to knead flour

In another room there are two ovens for cooking

The work of baker (pistor) was very common (guild of the pistores)

Warehouses

Warehouses (horrea) built around the years 115/125 AD

A little further on to the left of the Semita street, one of many examples of Ostia small private warehouse with perhaps the finest example of mixed work technique (opus mixtum) of Ostia

Central corridor with five rooms per side and an another one opposite the entrance

House of Prothyrum

Luxurious house, takes its name from the pediment of the entrance engraved with the name of the owners

Two construction phases: the first in the Severian period (193/235), the second around the mid third century. There have been other minor restorations after that

Wide corridor paved with mosaic made out of large tiles

Interior COURTYARD with a central basin

From the courtyard it is possible to access a tiny room through stairs and a long, narrow corridor with niches on the walls. Here there is a well, maybe a domestic sanctuary

The main room is the tablinum. The tablinum was an anteroom in a house of ancient Rome, opening out of the atrium opposite the main entry and often containing the family statues and archives

Around the courtyard there are various cubicula (small rooms) with marble floors and mosaics

Baths of the Philosopher

On the front of the building there were tabernae (shops) dating back to Trajan’s period (98/117) with an open space behind

Here was built a small temple of unknown attribution in the third century AD leaning against the back wall

The temple was destroyed in the second half of the third century and a new mystical-intellectual and collegial cult supplanted the original one

Here were found two marble portraits of the same person, maybe a philosopher

On the rest of the area a small bathing complex was built not accessible from road, and therefore most likely restricted to members of the association

The second room on the left side of the narrow entrance corridor is a latrina (toilet)

House of the Fortuna Annonaria

34

It was originally an insula of the third century AD transformed later into a domus (house). It is located on right side of Via della Fortuna Annonaria

Entrance and courtyard with columns were already part of the previous construction

On the back wall cast of the statue of a goddess, maybe "Goddess Fortuna Annonaria (of the Food Board), or the personification of the city of Ostia"

Here were found many statues of goddesses or personifications related to trade and to fertility of the land so much to make scholars think that the owner would have probably been a magistrate of the Food Board

Remarkable MAIN HALL, open toward the courtyard with three marble arches and a fountain, maybe a banquet hall where the stibadium was placed, a kind of semicircular sofa that in late antiquity replaced the triclinium for meals

Two rooms on the opposite side of which the smallest (cubiculum) features a heating system still visible and a floor with mosaic "Mythological scenes" including, in the central octagon, "The Thracian Lycurgus assaulting with an axe the nymph Ambrosia turned into grapevine", around the central octagon "She-wolf with twins", "Ganymede with Jupiter transformed into an eagle on the shoulder", "Prometheus", "Actaeon attacked by dogs" and, in the square panels "Animals"

One room was a latrina (toilet)

Well

It was crudely built in the middle of the Semita Street in the late fifth century

Apartment House and Baths of the Envious

32 - 33

During the period of Antoninus Pius (138/161) the INSULA (apartment house) occupied the southwest corner of the block which also included the Terme dell'Invidioso (Baths of the Envious)

Major renovations in the first half of the third century with rough masonry and mosaics

In the taberna (shop) on the right corner there is a mosaic with "Man fishing on a boat surrounded by aquatic animals and child addressing him with a gesture of exorcism with the inscription inbidiosos, envious"

Under the mosaic stratigraphic tests found traces of a building dating back to the half of the third century BC

The BATHS date back to the mid first century AD

Mosaics: in a corridor "Nereid on hippocampus", in the central frigidarium (room for cold baths) "Winged Cupid riding a sea tiger"

Just opposite the entrance, small popina (sort of wine and food bar) adjoining the baths with bar counter

Apartment House of the Sun

31

Nine shops, housing and a public latrina (toilet)

It was built during the period of Commodus (180/192)

After the fifth tavern towards south there is the entrance to the back section with two rooms in one of which graffiti of commercial subject were found on a wall in red plaster, including one with the writing "The Sun God lives here", a rare example of the cult of the sun god in Ostia

House of the Well

Domus (house) maybe built during the second half of the third century, installed inside a typical insula of the period of Hadrian (117/138) without changing the layout, but limited to the first floor

It must not have been a luxurious house as it didn’t have heating

Apartment House of the Wrestlers

It is a building with several building phases: it was originally built during the early period of the empire and it was rebuilt during Hadrian’s reign (117/138)

In the vestibule there is a square mosaic "Two wrestlers, Artemi and Sacal"

Maybe it was the headquarters of an association of wrestlers

The rooms of the east section were built in a later period

Mithraeum of the Snakes

30

Commercial building with tabernae (shops). A mithraeum was opened here around the middle or the end of the third century AD

Two fragments of plaster are all that it’s left of the decoration representing "Two colorful snakes (one crested, therefore male, the other on the left with no crest, therefore female) framing a genius with his toga pulled over his head and a cornucopia" of the mid-second century AD

In pagan mythology, the genius was the spiritual being, good or bad, who presided over the destiny of men from birth to death, and also the spiritual being who had under his protection a city, a people, a nation

It was originally the decoration of a lararium (area of the house dedicated to the worship of the gods of the family) which would usually represent the genius of the family and snakes. This decoration was kept when it was the mithraeum was built considering the common presence of snake in the worship

"Home of the Augustali"

26

It was built around the middle of the third century AD over a pre-existing structure dating back to the Republican period

It was maybe the collegial home of the Augustali (ministers for the cult of the emperors) or maybe it was the Curia which, in the last centuries of the Roman Empire, was the name of the city council, originally called Ordo Decurionum

According to Laird the complex does not match the architectonical type of the Augustales and the statues and inscriptions might be funerary

Courtyard with portico and fountain

There are small rooms all around, and a hall with marble slabs and statues of members of the imperial family, "Sabina, wife of Hadrian represented as Venus Genetrix" and maybe "Fausta, wife of Constantine, represented as Modesty"

Here was found the statue of a "Man with toga sacrificing, maybe Maxentius" (original in the Ostiense Museum)

In the rooms next to the hall with apse there are polychrome mosaics including, on the right, "Two cherubs holding a crown"

Various restorations during the late period of the empire would maybe prove a persistent desire to glorify the imperial family

Laundry

27

It is the largest and best preserved of the fullonicae (laundries) in Ostia

It was built during the period of Marcus Aurelius (161/180) above another fullonica of the beginning of the second century AD, which in turn was built above one domus (house) of the first century BC

Inside there are four large tanks (lacus) for water; around there are 35 small trays in terracotta (pilae fullonicae) with stone walls on either side

In these tanks the fullones (the workers of the laundry) would wash and color clothing, leaning on the walls, while pounding the fabrics to soak them better (a kind of dance known as saltus fullonicus)

The fabrics were drying on a terrace, of which only the stairs are left, or on the rafters of wood resting on the recesses of the stone blocks that remain on some pillars

House of the Stucco Capitals

Adjacent to the Fullonica

Part of a republican domus (house) of the second century BC, the northern part of which was destroyed during the imperial period with the construction of the so-called House of the Augustali and that maybe it was never used again as a house

In the peristyle there are fluted Tuscan columns covered in stucco

Mithraeum of Felicissimus

29

It was built inside another building during the third century AD

In the hallway there is a very important mosaic floor with "Degrees of initiation into the cult with crater (symbol water), altar on fire (symbol of fire) and two pilei (conical hats) of the Castors representing the two celestial hemispheres crossed by a Pythagorean soul. There are also seven rectangles and an inscription with the name of Felicissimus, the faithful to whom we owe the construction: Felicissimus votive f(ecit)"

It is one of the most comprehensive documents to learn about the cult of Mithra

Heading towards the House of the Fortuna Annonaria, following the street with the same name, there is the street called Via del Caseggiato del Sole, which cuts through some buildings

Baths of the Swimmer

Only partly accessible. It is the only case of stratigraphic excavations in Ostia (executed in the years 1966/75) with full historical sequence of the transformations of the building

Some important discoveries were made about ceramics trade during the mid-period of the empire

The building dates back to about 80/90 AD and it was built in reticulated work (opus reticulatum) and bricks (opus latericium)

There have been renovations up until the period of the Severian emperors (193)

It was abandoned very early (around 230/250)

TWO ROOMS WITH APSES: a frigidarium (room for cold baths) with fragmented mosaic representing "City walls and swimmer", and another room which was probably a so called unctiorum, where one would anoint the body before exercising in the gym

Monumental CISTERN two-story high divided into multiple sections and partially rebuilt

Sanctuary of the Bona Dea

28

It was built during the first century BC, under the street level, on Via degli Augustali

Only the lower structures of the cells remain, a temple with no podium, rooms for the vestal virgins and an altar with a well

It was enclosed by high walls to protect the goddess from prying eyes

Bona Dea was worshiped by women for fertility and for good crops

House on Via degli Augustali

It stands at the corner between Via della Fortuna Annonaria and Via degli Augustali

It was a domus (house) which occupied, at the end of the third century AD, two tabernae (shops) in an apartment block of the second century AD

Opus sectile (inlaid marble) with a central geometric polychrome pattern

Apartment House of Themistocles

Shops and apartments built during the period of Trajan (98/117)

Two long and narrow corridors and tiny rooms maybe functioning as hotel

There are some paintings in the so called "linear" architectural style (red on white)

Collegial Temple of the Masons

25

It was built during the third century AD, by the guild of masons (fabri tignuarii), maybe the most important guild in Ostia

The building was fenced and protected. It was reserved only for the worship of the sodales, the members of the guild

The identification was possible thanks to an inscription found on a lintel with a dedication from the guild of masons to Emperor Helvius Pertinax who reigned for three months only in 193 AD

The inauguration took place under Septimius Severus (193/211) who used to boast that he was the revenger of Helvius Pertinax

"Warehouses of the Food Administration"

In the north section there are workshops of the Annona (food administration) to the sides of a central passage and separated by partitions almost completely destroyed

In the south section there is the largest deposit of dolii in Ostia (more than 100). Dolii were big round terracotta containers for oil and wine

Republican Monument

It was built around 120/60 BC, one of the oldest examples of a tomb-type altar or of a shrine on a podium

The person who was buried here is unknown, but he was certainly an important person, buried outside the walls of the castrum

Portico of the Triumphal Arches

Apartment house with portico and shops dating back to the period of Commodus (180/192)

Warehouses of Artemis

So called because of the discovery of a statue of Artemis

It was built at the time of Trajan (98/117) in mixed work (opus mixtum) with little use of bricks

In the south east corner there are traces of an earlier domus (house) of the late-republican period

In these horrea (warehouses) there is also a deposit of dolii, round big containers for wine and oil

Warehouses of Hortensius

15

The Horrea of Hortensius are maybe the oldest (first century BC) among the horrea (warehouses) visible in Ostia today

Maybe this building was public property and it was not used as storage for grain

The ground where it rest is lower because it is the level dating back to the Republican times

Rectangular courtyard with tufa columns

There have been various restorations and modifications

On the right side of the colonnade there is a chapel in honor of an unidentified deity, perhaps the "Sun God", given the mosaic floor representing a disk with rays

The mosaic inscription mentions one Hortensius captain (navarchus) in the military fleet of Misenum who built the chapel and a priest, Julius Victorinus, who commissioned the mosaic

Warehouses with so-called Sabazeum

They were built around 120/125 AD, east of the other two warehouses (horrea in Latin)

The building is only partially excavated

Inside there is the so-called SABAZEUM, in the middle of the building with the warehouses

The walls were built in tufa with the technique known as uncertain work (opus incertum) before the perimeter wall dating back to the period of Hadrian (117/138)

Between the second and third century AD it was transformed into a place of worship

Two side podiums and mosaic with inscription "Fructus had this made at at his own expense". Maybe it was a mithraeum, but an inscription with a dedication to Jupiter Sabazius, a divinity from Thrace, would hint to the fact that this building might have been a Sabazeum although the presence of podiums would exclude it

It was probably a mithraeum where Sabazius was venerated as well, as it was common to mix the two deities (syncretism)

Christian Basilica

It was found and dug by the German Archaeological Institute during the years 1996/99 and later covered up again

51.45 x 23.30 (169 x 76 feet). Three naves preceded by an atrium with a four-sided colonnade

It was built after the destruction of one insula (apartment block) of the second century AD and it was restored at the end of the fourth century

It was abandoned, as well as all of Ostia, during the late eighth and early ninth century

Porticos

Buildings yet to be excavated with brick stamps dating the structures to the period of Antoninus Pius (138/161)