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Vasi's Digression - Ostia - part one

Introduction

According to the traditional account Ostia was founded by Ancus Martius, the fourth king of Rome. In Latin Ostia meant estuary, a reference to its location at the mouth of the Tiber. At the beginning it was just a castrum, a fortified camp, having the objective of protecting Rome from enemies attempting to attack the city by going up the river. With the growth of Rome, the nature of Ostia changed and it became a commercial and cosmopolitan town where advanced forms of trading were developed.
Its ruins help the visitor in understanding many aspects of the everyday life of a busy Roman market town during the age of the adoptive emperors and of the Severian dynasty.

Theatre

Theatre
The theatre

The theatre of Ostia was located in a very central position, along the decumanus, the name given by the Romans to the main street of their castra. The town trading centre was close to the theatre and we can imagine that the merchants ended their working day by attending a performance at the theatre. Most likely they preferred a farce to a drama. The theatre is still used today and every summer there is a short season based on farces by Plautus and Terentius, two writers who adapted Greek comedies to the Roman society.
The theatre was built by Agrippa, Augustus' son-in-law, but it was modified and enlarged by Commodus and Septimius Severus.

Baths

Terme di Nettuno
Terme di Nettuno - mosaics

Ostia had several baths, a sign of its wealth. The baths dedicated to Neptune retain large fragments of the mosaics which decorated their halls. They were built over a long period of time but the most interesting mosaics portraying imaginary sea creatures are attributed to the reigns of Hadrian and of his successor Antoninus Pius.

Terme di Nettuno
Terme di Nettuno - mosaics

At the beginning of the Baroque period, Giovanni Battista Marino (1569-1626), the most acclaimed Italian poet of his time, wrote: E' del poeta il fin la maraviglia (the poet's aim is to amaze the reader) and this sentence became a sort of manifesto for all Baroque artists. These mosaics, which are full of movement and disregard classic artistic canons, can be rightly ascribed to a similar view of the artist's mission.

Caserma dei Vigili

Corte dei vigili
Barracks of the Vigiles

The Romans had an elaborate system for managing their towns: they had laws which are regarded as an early approach to town planning, they had magistrates who supervised the orderly activity of markets, the storage of supplies, the celebrations during the festivities and they had firemen in charge of handling emergencies.
In a town like Ostia there was a constant risk of flood when strong winds blocked the flow of the Tiber into the sea. The firemen's barracks were therefore located near the river to closely monitor events: they were called Vigiles (those who stay awake). One side of the courtyard was dedicated to the emperors; one of the inscriptions attracts the attention of the visitor: the words referring to an emperor (Geta) were erased when his brother Caracalla decreed his damnatio memoriae.

Forum

Capitolium
Capitolium

The centre of Ostia was the Forum, a large square with porticoes around which the main buildings were located: the Roman Forum was surrounded by hills upon which some of its most imposing temples and palaces stood. The flat land of Ostia did not provide such a natural pedestal, but Hadrian's architect who designed the main temple (Capitolium) did not give in and built it on a high artificial podium.

Decoration of a temple in the forum
Decoration of a temple in the forum

Italian archaeologists generally refrain from reconstructing the monuments of the past. Occasionally they place some of the pieces of a temple or of a building on a modern support to provide the visitor with an idea of how they were assembled: the image above shows fragments of a temple to Rome and Augustus which was located opposite the Capitolium.

Terme del Foro
Terme del Foro

The magistrates, officers and priests who worked in the basilicas and temples of the Forum patronized some large baths facing westwards (so it is thought that they were open in the afternoon). The halls were built on a raised platform, underneath which was the bath heating system. The variety of styles reminds of Villa Adriana (the baths were built by Antoninus Pius, Hadrian's successor).


The image used as a background for this page shows a mosaic portraying the she-wolf with Romulus and Remus.

Go to part two.

Excepts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 itinerary related to Ostia.


Ostia città famosa, ora quasi distrutta

Uscendo poi fuori di porta s. Paolo, e pigliando il cammino per la celebre via Ostiense, si giunge a quella desolata ma celebre città. Sulle foci del Tevere, dove sboccava nelle sponde del mare tirreno, si vedono i miserabili avanzi della illustre città di Ostia termine del Lazio, edificata da Anco Marzio III. Re de' Romani col famoso tempio di Giove Feretrio; e chiamossi Ostia, quasi porta, ed ingresso agli Eroi, che a Roma portavano i trofei delle provincie conquistate. Abbracciata poi da' Romani la religione Cristiana, fuvvi da Costantino Magno edificata una chiesa in onore de' ss. Apostoli Pietro e Paolo, e di s. Gio. Batista: ma dipoi essendo stata ivi la s. vergine Aurea con un sasso legato al collo gettata nel Tevere, fu tanta la devozione, che ne prese quel popolo, che riedificando la chiesa, in onor di essa la dedicò, e poi fu ristaurata da s. Leone III. e da s. Leone IV. il quale vi andò processionalmente, e vi comunicò tutti i soldati e capitani dell'armata Cristiana, ivi radunata contro i Saracini i quali poi coll'ajuto Divino furono parte disfatti dalla tempesta, e parte rotti, e fatti prigioni, e poi, come dicemmo furono condotti a Roma, ed impiegati nella fabbrica della città Leonina. Appresso alla chiesa vi fu probabilmente un ospizio, in cui s. Agostino si trattenne, quando dopo la sua conversione voleva passare in Affrica con santa Monica sua madre, la quale però avendo colle lagrime guadagnato il suo figliuolo a Dio, quivi morì, e nella medesima chiesa fu poi sepolta, standovi dal dì della sua sepoltura, che fu nel 362. fino all'anno 1430. in cui Martino V. trasportolla a Roma con solennità.
Celebre è negli atti de' ss. Martiri non solo la città, ma ancora la via Ostiense, mentre non lungi dalla suddetta chiesa si conserva la memoria de' ss. Ciriaco vescovo Ostiense, Massimo prete, ed Archelao diacono, i quali sotto Alessandro Severo sostennero il martirio, con altri compagni avanti il teatro della medesima città; e tanti e tante gloriosamente sparsero in difesa della Fede cattolica il proprio sangue in quelle campagne: ma sopra tutti è celebre la memoria di s. Gallicano capitano, ed amico caro di Costantino Magno, mentre egli fu il primo, che edificasse chiese in Ostia, e che istituisse prebende per mantenimento de' preti, e chierici, facendo nella sua abitazione un grande ospizio per li pellegrini, che allora da tutte le nazioni ivi capitavano per andare a Roma, e visitare i sagri Limini; insieme con s. Ilario monaco Ostiense servivali con tanta carità, che quanti venivano dall' oriente, e occidente restavano tutti sorpresi di vedere sì grande umiltà in un uomo tanto nobile e ricco; onde sparsesi da per tutto la fama di sì magnanima virtù, e non potendo ciò soffrire l'Apostata Giuliano successore di Costantino, perchè non poteva per la di lui grande nobiltà farlo morire, discacciollo da Ostia; onde andatosene in Alessandria, fu tanto odiata la sua esemplare virtù, che ivi gloriosamente sofferse il martirio.
Gregorio IV. vedendo, che mancato era lo splendore di quella città, rinnovolla di mura e di popolo, mettendovi i Corsi ad abitarla, e perchè spesso facevansi vedere i Saracini, Martino V. fecevi altissime torri con varie fortificazioni. E' notabile, che essendo poi stata presa da Menaldo Guerra di Navarra formidabile corsale, il quale teneva in gran terrore tutto li mare di quei contorni, Alessandro VI. che allora era Pontefice vi mandò Consolano, detto per soprannome il gran Capitano, il quale avendo superato e fatto prigione Menaldo, lo condusse a Roma legato sopra un cavallo magro, e sfornito come in trionfo, mettendo spavento a chi lo mirava. Per un tal felice successo il medesimo Pontefice si portò poco dopo in Ostia insieme col Duca Valentino, e con vari Cardinali, per godere quelle delizie; e per rendere più forte la città. Giulio II. vi aggiunse nuove fortificazioni con larga fossa; ma a poco a poco scemato il popolo per l'infelicità dell'aria, ora non rimane altro delle antiche grandezze, che un castello o rocca, per difesa di quella spiaggia, abitato da pochi operari delle vicine saline.

Digital text first made available in the net by Istituto Nazionale di Studi Romani.


Pages on towns of Latium other than Rome In the Duchy of Castro: Farnese, Ischia di Castro, Valentano, Gradoli, Capodimonte, Marta In Maremma: Corneto (Tarquinia), Montalto, Canino A Pilgrim's Way: Via Francigena: Acquapendente, Bolsena, Montefiascone In and about Viterbo: Viterbo, Bagnoregio, S. Martino al Cimino, Tuscania, Bomarzo, S. Maria della Querce, Bagnaia, Orte, Vasanello, Vitorchiano From Civitavecchia to Civita Castellana: Civitavecchia, Tolfa, Allumiere, Oriolo Romano, Capranica, Sutri, Bassano, Monterosi, Nepi, Castel d'Elia, Civita Castellana From Bracciano to Viterbo: Manziana, Canale Monterano, Vejano, Barbarano, Blera, Vetralla Around Monte Cimino: Ronciglione, Caprarola, Carbognano, Fabrica, Corchiano, Vignanello, Vallerano, Soriano The Bracciano Lake: Bracciano, Trevignano, Anguillara At the foot of Monte Soratte: S. Oreste, Rignano, Faleria Land of the Romans' wives: Montopoli, Poggio Mirteto, Casperia, Cantalupo, Roccantica Sentinels on the Highway: Fiano Romano, Civitella S. Paolo, Nazzano, Torrita Tiberina, Filacciano, Ponzano Along Via Aurelia: Palidoro, Palo, S. Severa and S. Marinella A Walk to Malborghetto: Prima Porta, Malborghetto Branching off Via Cassia: S. Maria di Galeria, Formello, Isola Farnese To Nomentum and beyond: Mentana, Monterotondo, Palombara A Walk to Ponte di Nona: ancient monuments along Via Prenestina Via Appia Antica A short and delicious digression: Tivoli, Montecompatri, Monte Porzio Catone, Frascati, Grottaferrata, Marino, Castelgandolfo, Albano, Ariccia, Genzano, Velletri, Nemi, Rocca di Papa, Rocca Priora, Civita Lavinia (Lanuvio), Porto, Ostia Where the painters found their models: Anticoli Corrado, Castelmadama, Vicovaro, Arsoli Subiaco The Roman Campagna: Palestrina, Genazzano, Paliano, Anagni The Ernici Mountains: Ferentino, Alatri The Volsci Mountains: Valmontone, Colonna, Segni, Norma, Cori On the Latin Shores: Anzio, Nettuno, Torre Astura On the edge of the marsh: Sermoneta, Sezze, Priverno Circe's Cape: S. Felice, Terracina Veroli Branching off Via Flaminia: Riano, Castelnuovo di Porto, Morlupo, Leprignano (Capena)

Latium was enlarged in the 1920s with territories from the neighbouring regions: the map on the left shows the current borders of Latium; the map on the right has links to pages covering towns of historical Latium: in order to see them you must hover and click on the dots.

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