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{{Short description|Large archaeological site of a harbour city near Rome, Italy}} | |||
], near Ostia]] | |||
{{For|the district of Rome|Ostia Antica (district)}} | |||
] on the ] of Ostia.]] | |||
{{Expand Italian|Ostia (città antica)|date=December 2023}} | |||
:''] redirects here. For the modern districts of Rome of this name or similar, see ] and ], and for the modern town see ].'' | |||
{{Infobox ancient site | |||
| name = Ostia Antica | |||
| native_name = | |||
| alternate_name = | |||
| image = ] | |||
| alt = | |||
| caption = Market square of Ostia Antica | |||
| map_type = Italy | |||
| map_alt = | |||
| coordinates = {{coord|41|45|21|N|12|17|30|E|display=inline,title}} | |||
| mapframe = yes | |||
| mapframe-caption = Click on the map to see marker. | |||
| mapframe-zoom = 11 | |||
| mapframe-marker = monument | |||
| location = ], ], Italy | |||
| region = | |||
| type = Settlement | |||
| part_of = | |||
| length = | |||
| width = | |||
| area = {{convert|150|ha|km2}}<ref name="BeniCulturaliHistory">{{cite web|title=History - Ostia Antica|url=http://www.ostiaantica.beniculturali.it/en/la-storia.php|website=www.ostiaantica.beniculturali.it|access-date=2 September 2017|language=en|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713123347/http://www.ostiaantica.beniculturali.it/en/la-storia.php|archive-date=13 July 2017}}</ref> | |||
| height = | |||
| builder = | |||
| material = | |||
| built = | |||
| abandoned = 9th century AD | |||
| epochs = | |||
| cultures = ] | |||
| dependency_of = | |||
| occupants = | |||
| event = | |||
| excavations = | |||
| archaeologists = | |||
| condition = | |||
| ownership = Public | |||
| management = | |||
| public_access = Yes | |||
| website = {{URL|http://www.ostiaantica.beniculturali.it/}} | |||
|notes= | |||
}} | |||
'''Ostia Antica''' ({{literally|Ancient Ostia}}) is an ] city and the port of ] located at the mouth of the ]. It is near modern ], {{convert|25|km|abbr=on}} southwest of ]. Due to ] and the invasion of sand,{{clarify |What's the difference betw. silting and "invasion of sand"? |date= May 2024}} the site now lies {{convert|3|km|0|abbr=on}} from the sea.<ref>Ostia-Introduction http://www.ostia-antica.org/intro.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903173213/http://ostia-antica.org/intro.htm |date=2017-09-03 }}</ref> The name ''Ostia'' (the plural of ''ostium'') derives from Latin ''os'' 'mouth'. | |||
'''Ostia Antica''' was the ] of ] and perhaps its first '']''. | |||
Ostia is now a large ] noted for the excellent preservation of its ancient buildings, magnificent ]es and impressive ]s. The city's decline after antiquity led to harbor deterioration, marshy conditions, and reduced population. Sand dunes covering the site aided its preservation. Its remains provide insights into a city of commercial importance. As in ], Ostia's ruins provide details about Roman ] that are not accessible within the city of Rome itself.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Gates |first=Charles |title=Ancient cities: the archaeology of urban life in the ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece and Rome |date=2011 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-83057-4 |edition=2nd |location=London |pages=367–370}}</ref> | |||
==History== | ==History== | ||
===Origins=== | ===Origins=== | ||
Ostia may have been Rome's first '']''. According to legend, ], the fourth ],<ref>], '']'', 1.33.</ref> was the first to destroy ], an ancient town that was only {{convert|17|km|abbr=on}} from Rome and had a small harbour on the ], and then proceeded with establishing the new colony {{convert|10|km|abbr=on|0}} further west and closer to the sea coast. An inscription seems to confirm the establishment of the old '']'' of Ostia in the 7th century BC.<ref>"Ancus Marcius, the fourth of the kings from Romulus after the founding of the city founded this first colony" (''Anco Marcio regi quarto a Romulo qui ] primum coloniam --- deduxit'').</ref> The oldest archaeological remains so far discovered date back to only the 4th century BC.<ref name="britannica.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Ostia|title=Ostia - Italy|website=britannica.com}}</ref> The most ancient buildings currently visible are from the 3rd century BC, notably the ''Castrum'' (military camp);<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ostia-antica.org/intro.htm|title=Ostia - Introduction|website=www.ostia-antica.org|access-date=2006-12-05|archive-date=2017-09-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903173213/http://ostia-antica.org/intro.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> of a slightly later date is the ''Capitolium'' (temple of ], ] and ]). The '']'' of the walls of the original ''castrum'' at Ostia provide important evidence for the building techniques that were employed in Roman ] during the period of the ].<ref name="OSMAPArchitecture">{{cite web|last1=White|first1=Michael|title=OSMAP Building Types|url=https://www.laits.utexas.edu/isac/web/OSMAP/OSMAP_Masonry2.html|website=www.laits.utexas.edu|access-date=1 September 2017}}</ref> | |||
Ostia probably developed originally as a naval base, and in 267 BC, during the ], it was the seat of the ''quaestor Ostiensis'' in charge of the fleet. During the 2nd century BC its role as a commercial port gradually became prevalent for the imports of grain for the city of Rome, and buildings began to spread outside the castrum. | |||
Although Ostia was probably founded for the sole purpose of military defense — since hostile armies could eventually reach Rome by water through the mouth of the ] — in time the port became a very important commercial harbor. | |||
===Civil wars=== | |||
Many of the goods that Rome received from its colonies and provinces passed through Ostia, including the essential ]. In this role, Ostia soon replaced ], known to the ancient Romans as ''Puteoli'', a port near ]). | |||
Ostia was a scene of fighting during the period of civil wars in the 80s BC. In 87 BC ] attacked the city in order to cut off the flow of trade to Rome, aided by his generals ], ] and ], and captured the city and plundered it.<ref>Appian, The Civil Wars, 1.8, ed. Horace White, 1899</ref> | |||
In ], the town was razed by ], and again in ] it was sacked by ]s. After this second attack, the town was re-built and provided with protective walls by the statesman and orator ]. The town was then further developed during the ] AD, mainly under the influence of ], who ordered the building of the first ]. The town was also soon enriched by the construction of a new harbor on the northern mouths of the Tiber (which reaches the sea with a larger mouth in Ostia, ''Fiumara Grande'', and a narrower one near to the current ]). The new harbor, not surprisingly called '']'', from the Latin for "harbor," was excavated from the ground at the orders of the ] ]. This harbor was later supplement by a harbor built by ] finished in the year AD 113 ; it has a hexagonal form, in order to reduce the erosive forces of the waves. | |||
===Sacking by pirates=== | |||
]s''.]] | |||
In 68 BC, the town was sacked by ],<ref>Cicero, On the Command of Cn. Pompeius, 33</ref> who set the port on fire, destroyed the consular war fleet, and kidnapped two prominent senators. This attack caused such panic in Rome that ] arranged for the ] ] to pass a law, the '']'', to allow Pompey to raise an army and ]. Within a year, the pirates had been defeated.<ref name="CiceroCommandPompeius">{{Cite web|url=https://en.wikisource.org/To_the_citizens_on_Gnaeus_Pompeius's_command#12|title=To the citizens on Gnaeus Pompeius's command|first=Marcus Tullius |last=Cicero|via=Wikisource}}</ref> | |||
The town was provided with all the services a town of the time could require; in particular, a famous ]. Archaeologists also discovered the public '']s'', organized for collective use as a series of seats that allow us to imagine today that the function was also a social moment. In addition, Ostia had a large theatre, public baths and a firefighting service. The mosaic floors of the baths are still visible near today's entrance to the town. | |||
The town was then re-built and provided with defensive walls started under ] according to an inscription.<ref>EDR031435, EDR031505</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ostia-antica.org/dict/topics/walls/walls.htm|title=Topographical dictionary - The city walls|website=www.ostia-antica.org}}</ref> | |||
] too, required a widening of the naval areas, and ordered the building of another harbor, again pointing towards the north. It must be remembered that at a relatively short distance, there was also the harbor of ] (''Centum Cellae''), and ] was starting to have a significant number of harbors, the most important remained Portus. | |||
===Imperial Ostia=== | |||
] was struck there.]] | |||
{{See also|Portus}} | |||
] | |||
] from the Theatre]] | |||
] | |||
Ostia was further developed during the first century AD under the influence of ], who ordered the building of the town's first ]. | |||
===Rise and fall of Ostia=== | |||
Due to the small size of the harbour at Ostia, ] commissioned a new harbour at ] on the northern mouths of the Tiber (''Fiumara Grande''). Insufficiently protected from storms, Claudius' project was later supplemented by the hexagonal harbour built by ] and finished in 113 AD.<ref name="EncyclopediaBritannicaOstia">{{cite web|title=Ostia - Italy|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Ostia|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=1 September 2017|language=en}}</ref> Trajan also developed the harbour of ] (''Centum Cellae''), a relatively short distance away. These ports took business away from Ostia and began its commercial decline.<ref name="EncyclopediaBritannicaOstia" /> | |||
Ostia grew to 50,000 inhabitants in the ] and in time focused its naval activities on ]. With the end of the ], Ostia fell slowly into decay, and was finally abandoned in the ] due to the fall of the Roman Empire in combination with repeated invasions and sackings by ] pirates; the inhabitants moved to ]. In the ], bricks from buildings in Ostia were used for several other occasions. The ] was entirely built of material originally belonging to Ostia. | |||
Nevertheless, Ostia grew to a peak of some 100,000 inhabitants in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YbtxTd95IjwC&pg=PA467|title=Mediterranean Europe|first=Duncan|last=Garwood|date=24 September 2018|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=9781741048568 |via=Google Books}}</ref> | |||
A "local sacking" was carried out by ] ], who used the remains as a sort of ] store for the ''palazzi'' they were building in Rome. Soon after, foreign explorers came in search of ancient statues and objects. The ] started organizing its own investigations with ] and the research still continues today. It has been estimated that two thirds of the ancient town have currently been found. | |||
Ostia itself was provided with all the services a town of the time could require; a large theatre, many public baths (such as the Thermae Gavii Maximi, or ]), numerous taverns and inns and a firefighting service. The popularity of the ] is evident in the discovery of eighteen ].<ref name="MithraismOstia">{{cite web|last1=Griffith|first1=Alison|title=Topographical dictionary - Mithraism|url=http://www.ostia-antica.org/dict/topics/mithraea/intro.htm|website=www.ostia-antica.org|access-date=1 September 2017}}</ref> Ostia also contained the ], the earliest synagogue yet identified in Europe.<ref>L. Michael White, "Synagogue and Society in Imperial Ostia: Archaeological and Epigraphic Evidence" ''The Harvard Theological Review'' '''90'''.1 (January 1997), pp 23-58; Anders Runesson, "The Oldest Original Synagogue Building in the Diaspora: A Response to L. Michael White" ''HTR'' '''92'''.4 (October 1999), pp 409-433; L. Michael White "Reading the Ostia Synagogue: A Reply to A. Runesson", ''HTR'' '''92'''.4 (October 1999), pp 435-464.</ref> | |||
''For the naval battle of ] between Christian and Saracens, see ].'' | |||
===Late-Roman and sub-Roman Ostia=== | |||
==Photos== | |||
] | |||
<gallery> | |||
Image:Ostia gate.jpg|The inscription originally placed on the main gate. | |||
Although it used to be thought that the city entered a period of slow decline after ] made Portus a municipality, indicated by some apartment blocks being replaced by houses of the rich, recent excavations show that the town continued to thrive.<ref>''Ostia in Late Antiquity'', ], 2013, Cambridge University, p. 65 {{ISBN|978-1-316-60153-2}}</ref> Numerous baths are recorded as still operating in the 4th and 5th centuries with major repairs of the city's Neptune Baths in the 370s. During the 4th century, the city spilled over the southern walls to the sea south of Regions III and IV. | |||
Image:Ostia theaterexterior.jpg|The theatre as seen from the ancient main road. | |||
Image:Ostia theaterinterior.jpg|Inside the theatre. | |||
The poet ] reported the lack of maintenance of the city ports in 414 AD.<ref name="RutiliusNamatianus">{{cite web|title=RUTILIUS NAMATIANUS|url=http://www.ostia-antica.org/~atexts/rutilius.htm|website=www.ostia-antica.org|access-date=1 September 2017}}</ref> This view has been challenged by Boin who states Namatianus' verse is a literary construct and inconsistent with the archaeological record.<ref>''Ostia in Late Antiquity'', Boin, 2013, pp. 22, 25. The poet was lamenting the lost greatness of Rome after the sack of 410.</ref> | |||
Image:Ostia mosaiquefloor.jpg|Mosaic floor in the market. | |||
Prosperity in the 5th century is indicated by repairs on baths (26 remained in operation during the 4th century), public buildings, church construction, street repaving, residential and business expansion beyond the perimeter of the south wall (the presence of a small harbour, the Porta Marina on the sea, is attested). A huge 4th century villa east of the Maritime baths was built. The river port on the western edge of the town was expanded with the ''navalia'', a squarish basin built in from the river. A warehouse on the east side and, behind it, a large bath complex were built.<ref>''Ostia in Late Antiquity'', Boin, 2013, pp. 21, 24, 52-53, 56, 57-65, 165, 231-236</ref> | |||
It became an ] as part of the ] as early as the 3rd century AD. The episcopal church sponsored by Constantine the Great is located in the south-east of the city.{{sfn|Heinzelmann|2020|p=15–120}}<ref>Feist, Sabine; et al. (2023). "Die konstantinische Bischofskirche von Ostia. Vorbericht zur ersten Grabungskampagne 2023" . ''Kölner und Bonner Archaeologica'' '''13''', pp. 163–181.</ref> The city was mentioned by ] when he passed there in the late 4th century.<ref name="StAugustineOstia">{{cite web|title=St. Augustine at Ostia|url=http://celt.ucc.ie/published/E880000-004/text001.html|website=celt.ucc.ie|access-date=1 September 2017}}</ref> On their way back to Africa after Augustine's conversion to Christianity, Augustine's mother, ], died in 387 in Ostia.<ref>{{cite book|last = Augustine|first = E.|date = 1977|title = Confessions|location = London|publisher = Penguin|isbn = 014044114X|pages = –197|url-access = registration|url = https://archive.org/details/confessions00augu}}</ref> The church ('']'') of ] in Ostia was built on her burial site. | |||
After the ] in 476, Ostia fell slowly into decay as the population of Rome, 700–800,000 in AD 400 contracted to 200,000 or less in 500 AD. A naval battle, the ], was fought there in 849 between ] and ]; the remaining inhabitants moved to ] a short distance away.<ref name="EncyclopediaBritannicaOstia" /> | |||
==Surroundings== | |||
] | |||
South of Ostia many rich villa-estates were developed from the Republican era along the coast road to ].<ref>Carta degli insediamenti del litorale laurentino da Lanciani 1903, cit. a nota 5, tav. XIII, fig. 3.</ref> Pliny described the route towards his villa there: “There are two different roads to it: if you go by that of Laurentum, you must turn off at the fourteenth mile-stone; if by that of Ostia, at the eleventh. Both of them are sandy in places, which makes it a little heavier and longer by carriage, but short and easy on horseback. The landscape affords plenty of variety, the view in some places being closed in by woods, in others extending over broad meadows, where numerous flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, which the severity of the winter has driven from the mountains, fatten in the spring warmth, and on the rich pasturage”. | |||
Today several well-preserved Roman villas south of Ostia have been excavated in the area of Castel Fusano, including the ] excavated in 1989–2008. | |||
==Excavations== | |||
] was struck there.]] | |||
The remains were used over the centuries as a quarry for ] for the '']'' built in Rome.<ref>Angelo PELLEGRINO, Ostia Antica: Guide to the Excavations Paperback, 2000 {{ISBN|978-8870470918}}</ref> | |||
The ] started organising its own digs for sculptures with ].{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} | |||
Under ] massive excavations were undertaken from 1939 to 1942<ref name="britannica.com"/> during which several remains, particularly from ], were brought to light. These were interrupted when Italy became a major battlefield of World War II. | |||
In the post-war period, the first volume of the official series ''Scavi di Ostia'' appeared in 1954; it was devoted to a topography of the town by ] and after a hiatus the research still continues today. Though untouched areas adjacent to the original excavations were left undisturbed awaiting a more precise dating of Roman pottery types, the "Baths of the Swimmer", named for the mosaic figure in the '']'', were meticulously excavated, in 1966–70 and 1974–75, in part as a training ground for young archaeologists and in part to establish a laboratory of well-understood finds as a teaching aid. | |||
It has been estimated that two-thirds of the ancient town are as yet unexcavated. | |||
In 2014, a ] survey using ], among other techniques, revealed the existence of a boundary wall on the north side of the Tiber enclosing an unexcavated area of the city containing three massive warehouses.<ref>{{cite news|last=Thomas|first=Emily|title=Archaeologists Unearth New Areas Of Ancient Roman City|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/17/roman-port-city-ostia-archaeology-_n_5167948.html|access-date=4 May 2014|newspaper=huffingtonpost.com|date=17–19 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Earl|first=Graeme|title=New city wall discovered at Ostia|date=16 April 2014 |url=http://www.portusproject.org/blog/2014/04/new-city-wall-discovered-ostia/|publisher=University of Southampton|access-date=4 May 2014}}</ref> | |||
==Modern day== | |||
The site of Ostia Antica is open to the public. Finds from the excavation are housed onsite in the Museo Ostiense. | |||
== Media == | |||
*Ostia was featured in the novels '']'' and '']'', both written by ] novelist ]. The novels include scenes set at Ostia spanning from the reign of ] to the reign of ], including the departure of ] to ] and Claudius's reconstruction of the harbour. In the ], Ostia was frequently mentioned but never actually seen. | |||
*Ostia features in ''A War Within: The Gladiator'' by Nathan D. Maki. After an assassination attempt on Emperor ] the protagonists Antonius and Theudas escape by clinging to a barge on the Tiber, reaching Ostia, and stowing away on a trireme heading north to Ravenna. | |||
*Ostia appears briefly towards the end of the ''Roman Empire'' section of the ] comedy film '']'', where the main characters board a galleon (bearing the ] logo) bound for ]. In the film, however, Ostia is only ever referred to as simply "the port". | |||
*Ostia's beach and port serves as the location for the 1993 music video of the song "]" by ]. | |||
*Ostia is mentioned several times in the 2005 ]/] historical drama series '']''. | |||
*Ostia is mentioned in the 2000 film '']'', when the protagonist, Maximus, learns that his army is camped at Ostia and awaiting orders. | |||
*One of the wonders buildable in the "Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire" mod for Sid Meier's '']'' is called the "Portus Ostiae". | |||
*Ostia is one of the inspirations for the setting of '']''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archaeogaming.com/2017/04/17/the-archaeology-of-the-talos-principle/|title=The Archaeology of The Talos Principle|website=archaeogaming.com|access-date=June 17, 2024}}</ref> | |||
*Ostia is the name of the Magic World's lost kingdom and the location of the gladiatorial games in the manga series '']''. | |||
*Ostia is the name of the most important city of the Lycian Alliance in the '']'' series. | |||
*Ostia is mentioned in several novels in ]' ] series. | |||
*Ostia is featured in the film '']'' from 1962.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056424/locations|title=Rome Adventure, Filming Locations|website=IMDB.com|publisher=IMDB|access-date=January 25, 2017}}</ref> | |||
*Ostia is a central location in the children's novel series '']'' by ], and its ]. | |||
==Gallery== | |||
<gallery mode=packed> | |||
File:Street and Dwellings, Ostia Antica (7966414348).jpg|Street and dwellings | |||
File:Area archeologica di Ostia Antica - panoramio (52).jpg|Temple of the ]: Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva | |||
File:Ostia gate.jpg|The inscription originally placed on the main gate | |||
File:Ostia Antica (46761317782).jpg|Theatrical masks, part of the architectural decoration of the Theatre (regio II, insula VII) | |||
File:Magazzino dei Doli Ostia Antica 2006-09-08.jpg|] embedded in the ground at Caseggiato dei dolii | |||
File:Frigidarium Terme del Foro Ostia Antica 2006-09-08.jpg|] (frigidarium) | |||
File:Domus di Amore e Psiche Ostia Antica 2006-09-08 n4.jpg|Floor pavement. Room C of the House of Cupid and Psyche (regio I, insula XIV) | |||
File:Statue of a reclining Attis at the Shrine of Attis 1.jpg|Statue of ] in the ] | |||
File:Area archeologica di Ostia Antica - panoramio (62).jpg|View of the archaeological site | |||
File:Ostia Antica - Via Delle Tombe.jpg|Via delle TombeV | |||
File:Ostia Antica - House of the Painted Vaults - room 5 - west and south wall - 2.jpg|Room 5 of the House of the Painted Vaults. A wall painting of an erotic scene is on the south wall. 250 CE | |||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
== |
==See also== | ||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
==Notes== | |||
{{commons|Ostia Antica}} | |||
<!--This article uses the Cite.php citation mechanism. If you would like more information on how to add references to this article, please see http://meta.wikimedia.org/Cite/Cite.php --> | |||
* Virtual panoramas and photo gallery (English/Italian) | |||
{{reflist}} | |||
* including an (English) | |||
* (Italian/English) | |||
* (English) | |||
==References== | |||
{{coor title dm|41|45|N|12|18|E|region:IT_type:city}} | |||
;Archaeological reports | |||
*{{cite book |last1=Bigi |first1=Daniele |title=Scavi di Ostia XVIII: Il Caseggiato del Serapide |date=2024 |publisher=L'Erma di Bretschneider |isbn=9788891328298}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Heinzelmann |first=Michael |date=2020 |lang=de |title=Forma urbis Ostiae. Untersuchungen zur Entwicklung der Hafenstadt Roms von der Zeit der Republik bis ins frühe Mittelalter |trans-title=Forma urbis Ostiae. Studies on the development of the harbour city of Rome from the time of the Republic to the early Middle Ages |publisher=Harrassowitz | location=Wiesbaden |isbn=978-3-447-11534-6}} | |||
;Discussions | |||
* Boatwright, Mary Taliaferro. ''The Romans: From Village to Empire''. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford UP (2012): 248 | |||
* Danner, Marcel (2017). ''Wohnkultur im spätantiken Ostia'' . Kölner Schriften zur Archäologie, volume 1. Wiesbaden: Reichert, {{ISBN|978-3-95490-128-9}}. | |||
* Heinzelmann, Michael (2004). '''' . Studien zur antiken Stadt, volume 6. München: Pfeil, {{ISBN|3-931516-85-7}} (). | |||
*Hermansen, Gustav 1982. ''Ostia: Aspects of Roman City Life.'' Edmonton: University of Alberta Press. | |||
* Karivieri, Arja (2020). ''Life and death in a multicultural harbour city. Ostia antica from the Republic through late antiquity.'' Rome: Institutum Romanum Finlandiae, {{ISBN|978-88-5491-104-8}}. | |||
*Meiggs, R. (1960) 1973. ''Roman Ostia'' 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press) The standard overview. | |||
*Packer, James E. 1971 ''The Insulae of Imperial Ostia" ''M.Am.Acad. Rome'' '''31''' | |||
*Pavolini, C. ''Ostia: Guida Archeologica Laterza.'' Rome: Laterza (Italian) | |||
*Priester, S. ''Vielgeschossige Wohnbauten außerhalb der Tibermetropole,'' in: ''Ad summas tegulas. Untersuchungen zu vielgeschossigen Gebäudeblöcken mit Wohneinheiten und insulae im kaiserzeitlichen Rom'', L'Erma Di Bretschneider, Roma 2002, pp. 217 ff. | |||
* Rieger, Anna-Katharina (2004). ''Heiligtümer in Ostia'' . München: Pfeil, {{ISBN|3-89937-042-2}}. | |||
* Lorenzatti Sandro, ''Ostia. Storia Ambiente Itinerari.'' Roma 2007. | |||
==External links== | |||
{{commons category}} | |||
* ''retrieved August 13, 2022'' | |||
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Latest revision as of 15:47, 20 December 2024
Large archaeological site of a harbour city near Rome, Italy For the district of Rome, see Ostia Antica (district).You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Italian. (December 2023) Click for important translation instructions.
|
Market square of Ostia Antica | |
Shown within Italy | |
Click on the map to see marker. | |
Location | Ostia, Lazio, Italy |
---|---|
Coordinates | 41°45′21″N 12°17′30″E / 41.75583°N 12.29167°E / 41.75583; 12.29167 |
Type | Settlement |
Area | 150 hectares (1.5 km) |
History | |
Abandoned | 9th century AD |
Cultures | Ancient Rome |
Site notes | |
Ownership | Public |
Public access | Yes |
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Ostia Antica (lit. 'Ancient Ostia') is an ancient Roman city and the port of Rome located at the mouth of the Tiber. It is near modern Ostia, 25 km (16 mi) southwest of Rome. Due to silting and the invasion of sand, the site now lies 3 km (2 mi) from the sea. The name Ostia (the plural of ostium) derives from Latin os 'mouth'.
Ostia is now a large archaeological site noted for the excellent preservation of its ancient buildings, magnificent frescoes and impressive mosaics. The city's decline after antiquity led to harbor deterioration, marshy conditions, and reduced population. Sand dunes covering the site aided its preservation. Its remains provide insights into a city of commercial importance. As in Pompeii, Ostia's ruins provide details about Roman urbanism that are not accessible within the city of Rome itself.
History
Origins
Ostia may have been Rome's first colonia. According to legend, Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome, was the first to destroy Ficana, an ancient town that was only 17 km (11 mi) from Rome and had a small harbour on the Tiber, and then proceeded with establishing the new colony 10 km (6 mi) further west and closer to the sea coast. An inscription seems to confirm the establishment of the old castrum of Ostia in the 7th century BC. The oldest archaeological remains so far discovered date back to only the 4th century BC. The most ancient buildings currently visible are from the 3rd century BC, notably the Castrum (military camp); of a slightly later date is the Capitolium (temple of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva). The opus quadratum of the walls of the original castrum at Ostia provide important evidence for the building techniques that were employed in Roman urbanisation during the period of the Middle Republic.
Ostia probably developed originally as a naval base, and in 267 BC, during the first Punic war, it was the seat of the quaestor Ostiensis in charge of the fleet. During the 2nd century BC its role as a commercial port gradually became prevalent for the imports of grain for the city of Rome, and buildings began to spread outside the castrum.
Civil wars
Ostia was a scene of fighting during the period of civil wars in the 80s BC. In 87 BC Marius attacked the city in order to cut off the flow of trade to Rome, aided by his generals Cinna, Carbo and Sertorius, and captured the city and plundered it.
Sacking by pirates
In 68 BC, the town was sacked by pirates, who set the port on fire, destroyed the consular war fleet, and kidnapped two prominent senators. This attack caused such panic in Rome that Pompey the Great arranged for the tribune Aulus Gabinius to pass a law, the lex Gabinia, to allow Pompey to raise an army and destroy the pirates. Within a year, the pirates had been defeated.
The town was then re-built and provided with defensive walls started under Marcus Tullius Cicero according to an inscription.
Imperial Ostia
See also: PortusOstia was further developed during the first century AD under the influence of Tiberius, who ordered the building of the town's first forum.
Due to the small size of the harbour at Ostia, Claudius commissioned a new harbour at Portus on the northern mouths of the Tiber (Fiumara Grande). Insufficiently protected from storms, Claudius' project was later supplemented by the hexagonal harbour built by Trajan and finished in 113 AD. Trajan also developed the harbour of Civitavecchia (Centum Cellae), a relatively short distance away. These ports took business away from Ostia and began its commercial decline.
Nevertheless, Ostia grew to a peak of some 100,000 inhabitants in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.
Ostia itself was provided with all the services a town of the time could require; a large theatre, many public baths (such as the Thermae Gavii Maximi, or Baths at Ostia), numerous taverns and inns and a firefighting service. The popularity of the cult of Mithras is evident in the discovery of eighteen Mithraea. Ostia also contained the Ostia Synagogue, the earliest synagogue yet identified in Europe.
Late-Roman and sub-Roman Ostia
Although it used to be thought that the city entered a period of slow decline after Constantine the Great made Portus a municipality, indicated by some apartment blocks being replaced by houses of the rich, recent excavations show that the town continued to thrive. Numerous baths are recorded as still operating in the 4th and 5th centuries with major repairs of the city's Neptune Baths in the 370s. During the 4th century, the city spilled over the southern walls to the sea south of Regions III and IV.
The poet Rutilius Namatianus reported the lack of maintenance of the city ports in 414 AD. This view has been challenged by Boin who states Namatianus' verse is a literary construct and inconsistent with the archaeological record.
Prosperity in the 5th century is indicated by repairs on baths (26 remained in operation during the 4th century), public buildings, church construction, street repaving, residential and business expansion beyond the perimeter of the south wall (the presence of a small harbour, the Porta Marina on the sea, is attested). A huge 4th century villa east of the Maritime baths was built. The river port on the western edge of the town was expanded with the navalia, a squarish basin built in from the river. A warehouse on the east side and, behind it, a large bath complex were built.
It became an episcopal see as part of the Diocese of Rome as early as the 3rd century AD. The episcopal church sponsored by Constantine the Great is located in the south-east of the city. The city was mentioned by St Augustine when he passed there in the late 4th century. On their way back to Africa after Augustine's conversion to Christianity, Augustine's mother, Saint Monica, died in 387 in Ostia. The church (titulus) of Santa Aurea in Ostia was built on her burial site.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, Ostia fell slowly into decay as the population of Rome, 700–800,000 in AD 400 contracted to 200,000 or less in 500 AD. A naval battle, the Battle of Ostia, was fought there in 849 between Christians and Saracens; the remaining inhabitants moved to Gregoriopolis a short distance away.
Surroundings
South of Ostia many rich villa-estates were developed from the Republican era along the coast road to Laurentum. Pliny described the route towards his villa there: “There are two different roads to it: if you go by that of Laurentum, you must turn off at the fourteenth mile-stone; if by that of Ostia, at the eleventh. Both of them are sandy in places, which makes it a little heavier and longer by carriage, but short and easy on horseback. The landscape affords plenty of variety, the view in some places being closed in by woods, in others extending over broad meadows, where numerous flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, which the severity of the winter has driven from the mountains, fatten in the spring warmth, and on the rich pasturage”.
Today several well-preserved Roman villas south of Ostia have been excavated in the area of Castel Fusano, including the Villa della Palombara excavated in 1989–2008.
Excavations
The remains were used over the centuries as a quarry for marble for the palazzi built in Rome.
The Papacy started organising its own digs for sculptures with Pope Pius VII.
Under Benito Mussolini massive excavations were undertaken from 1939 to 1942 during which several remains, particularly from the Republican Period, were brought to light. These were interrupted when Italy became a major battlefield of World War II.
In the post-war period, the first volume of the official series Scavi di Ostia appeared in 1954; it was devoted to a topography of the town by Italo Gismondi and after a hiatus the research still continues today. Though untouched areas adjacent to the original excavations were left undisturbed awaiting a more precise dating of Roman pottery types, the "Baths of the Swimmer", named for the mosaic figure in the apodyterium, were meticulously excavated, in 1966–70 and 1974–75, in part as a training ground for young archaeologists and in part to establish a laboratory of well-understood finds as a teaching aid.
It has been estimated that two-thirds of the ancient town are as yet unexcavated.
In 2014, a geophysical survey using magnetometry, among other techniques, revealed the existence of a boundary wall on the north side of the Tiber enclosing an unexcavated area of the city containing three massive warehouses.
Modern day
The site of Ostia Antica is open to the public. Finds from the excavation are housed onsite in the Museo Ostiense.
Media
- Ostia was featured in the novels I, Claudius and Claudius the God, both written by British novelist Robert Graves. The novels include scenes set at Ostia spanning from the reign of Augustus to the reign of Claudius, including the departure of Agrippa to Syria and Claudius's reconstruction of the harbour. In the 1976 television series, Ostia was frequently mentioned but never actually seen.
- Ostia features in A War Within: The Gladiator by Nathan D. Maki. After an assassination attempt on Emperor Commodus the protagonists Antonius and Theudas escape by clinging to a barge on the Tiber, reaching Ostia, and stowing away on a trireme heading north to Ravenna.
- Ostia appears briefly towards the end of the Roman Empire section of the 1981 comedy film History of the World, Part I, where the main characters board a galleon (bearing the El Al logo) bound for Judaea. In the film, however, Ostia is only ever referred to as simply "the port".
- Ostia's beach and port serves as the location for the 1993 music video of the song "La solitudine" by Laura Pausini.
- Ostia is mentioned several times in the 2005 HBO/BBC historical drama series Rome.
- Ostia is mentioned in the 2000 film Gladiator, when the protagonist, Maximus, learns that his army is camped at Ostia and awaiting orders.
- One of the wonders buildable in the "Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire" mod for Sid Meier's Civilization III is called the "Portus Ostiae".
- Ostia is one of the inspirations for the setting of The Talos Principle.
- Ostia is the name of the Magic World's lost kingdom and the location of the gladiatorial games in the manga series Negima! Magister Negi Magi.
- Ostia is the name of the most important city of the Lycian Alliance in the Fire Emblem series.
- Ostia is mentioned in several novels in Lindsey Davis' Marcus Didius Falco series.
- Ostia is featured in the film Rome Adventure from 1962.
- Ostia is a central location in the children's novel series The Roman Mysteries by Caroline Lawrence, and its television adaption.
Gallery
- Street and dwellings
- Temple of the Capitoline Triad: Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva
- The inscription originally placed on the main gate
- Theatrical masks, part of the architectural decoration of the Theatre (regio II, insula VII)
- Dolia embedded in the ground at Caseggiato dei dolii
- Forum Baths (frigidarium)
- Floor pavement. Room C of the House of Cupid and Psyche (regio I, insula XIV)
- Statue of Attis in the Shrine of Attis
- View of the archaeological site
- Via delle TombeV
- Room 5 of the House of the Painted Vaults. A wall painting of an erotic scene is on the south wall. 250 CE
See also
Notes
- "History - Ostia Antica". www.ostiaantica.beniculturali.it. Archived from the original on 13 July 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
- Ostia-Introduction http://www.ostia-antica.org/intro.htm Archived 2017-09-03 at the Wayback Machine
- Gates, Charles (2011). Ancient cities: the archaeology of urban life in the ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece and Rome (2nd ed.). London : Routledge. pp. 367–370. ISBN 978-0-203-83057-4.
- Livy, Ab Urbe condita libri, 1.33.
- "Ancus Marcius, the fourth of the kings from Romulus after the founding of the city founded this first colony" (Anco Marcio regi quarto a Romulo qui Ab urbe condita primum coloniam --- deduxit).
- ^ "Ostia - Italy". britannica.com.
- "Ostia - Introduction". www.ostia-antica.org. Archived from the original on 2017-09-03. Retrieved 2006-12-05.
- White, Michael. "OSMAP Building Types". www.laits.utexas.edu. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
- Appian, The Civil Wars, 1.8, ed. Horace White, 1899
- Cicero, On the Command of Cn. Pompeius, 33
- Cicero, Marcus Tullius. "To the citizens on Gnaeus Pompeius's command" – via Wikisource.
- EDR031435, EDR031505
- "Topographical dictionary - The city walls". www.ostia-antica.org.
- ^ "Ostia - Italy". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
- Garwood, Duncan (24 September 2018). Mediterranean Europe. Lonely Planet. ISBN 9781741048568 – via Google Books.
- Griffith, Alison. "Topographical dictionary - Mithraism". www.ostia-antica.org. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
- L. Michael White, "Synagogue and Society in Imperial Ostia: Archaeological and Epigraphic Evidence" The Harvard Theological Review 90.1 (January 1997), pp 23-58; Anders Runesson, "The Oldest Original Synagogue Building in the Diaspora: A Response to L. Michael White" HTR 92.4 (October 1999), pp 409-433; L. Michael White "Reading the Ostia Synagogue: A Reply to A. Runesson", HTR 92.4 (October 1999), pp 435-464.
- Ostia in Late Antiquity, Douglas Boin, 2013, Cambridge University, p. 65 ISBN 978-1-316-60153-2
- "RUTILIUS NAMATIANUS". www.ostia-antica.org. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
- Ostia in Late Antiquity, Boin, 2013, pp. 22, 25. The poet was lamenting the lost greatness of Rome after the sack of 410.
- Ostia in Late Antiquity, Boin, 2013, pp. 21, 24, 52-53, 56, 57-65, 165, 231-236
- Heinzelmann 2020, p. 15–120.
- Feist, Sabine; et al. (2023). "Die konstantinische Bischofskirche von Ostia. Vorbericht zur ersten Grabungskampagne 2023" . Kölner und Bonner Archaeologica 13, pp. 163–181.
- "St. Augustine at Ostia". celt.ucc.ie. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
- Augustine, E. (1977). Confessions. London: Penguin. pp. 196–197. ISBN 014044114X.
- Carta degli insediamenti del litorale laurentino da Lanciani 1903, cit. a nota 5, tav. XIII, fig. 3.
- Angelo PELLEGRINO, Ostia Antica: Guide to the Excavations Paperback, 2000 ISBN 978-8870470918
- Thomas, Emily (17–19 April 2014). "Archaeologists Unearth New Areas Of Ancient Roman City". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
- Earl, Graeme (16 April 2014). "New city wall discovered at Ostia". University of Southampton. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
- "The Archaeology of The Talos Principle". archaeogaming.com. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
- "Rome Adventure, Filming Locations". IMDB.com. IMDB. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
References
- Archaeological reports
- Bigi, Daniele (2024). Scavi di Ostia XVIII: Il Caseggiato del Serapide. L'Erma di Bretschneider. ISBN 9788891328298.
- Heinzelmann, Michael (2020). Forma urbis Ostiae. Untersuchungen zur Entwicklung der Hafenstadt Roms von der Zeit der Republik bis ins frühe Mittelalter [Forma urbis Ostiae. Studies on the development of the harbour city of Rome from the time of the Republic to the early Middle Ages] (in German). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 978-3-447-11534-6.
- Discussions
- Boatwright, Mary Taliaferro. The Romans: From Village to Empire. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford UP (2012): 248
- Danner, Marcel (2017). Wohnkultur im spätantiken Ostia . Kölner Schriften zur Archäologie, volume 1. Wiesbaden: Reichert, ISBN 978-3-95490-128-9.
- Heinzelmann, Michael (2004). Die Nekropolen von Ostia. Untersuchungen zu den Gräberstraßen vor der Porta Romana und an der Via Laurentia . Studien zur antiken Stadt, volume 6. München: Pfeil, ISBN 3-931516-85-7 (link to the supplement plans).
- Hermansen, Gustav 1982. Ostia: Aspects of Roman City Life. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press.
- Karivieri, Arja (2020). Life and death in a multicultural harbour city. Ostia antica from the Republic through late antiquity. Rome: Institutum Romanum Finlandiae, ISBN 978-88-5491-104-8.
- Meiggs, R. (1960) 1973. Roman Ostia 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press) The standard overview.
- Packer, James E. 1971 The Insulae of Imperial Ostia" M.Am.Acad. Rome 31
- Pavolini, C. Ostia: Guida Archeologica Laterza. Rome: Laterza (Italian)
- Priester, S. Vielgeschossige Wohnbauten außerhalb der Tibermetropole, in: Ad summas tegulas. Untersuchungen zu vielgeschossigen Gebäudeblöcken mit Wohneinheiten und insulae im kaiserzeitlichen Rom, L'Erma Di Bretschneider, Roma 2002, pp. 217 ff.
- Rieger, Anna-Katharina (2004). Heiligtümer in Ostia . München: Pfeil, ISBN 3-89937-042-2.
- Lorenzatti Sandro, Ostia. Storia Ambiente Itinerari. Roma 2007.
External links
- Photographs of Ostia at DigitalMapsoftheAncientWorld retrieved August 13, 2022
- Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Rome
- Archaeological parks
- Archaeological sites in Lazio
- Former populated places in Italy
- Mediterranean port cities and towns in Italy
- Mithraea
- Ostia (ancient city)
- Ostia (Rome)
- Roman harbors in Italy
- Roman sites in Lazio
- Roman towns and cities in Italy
- Tourist attractions in Rome