Ancient Ostia
During this tour, we are going to find evidences of the various cultures which were living together here two thousand years ago, side by side in this dock city built at the mouth of the Tiber river.
After skirting the cemetery, where funerary cults of incineration and burial have taken place over time, we will enter the city through Porta Romana, then we will visit the Baths of Neptune and the Firemen's Barracks. We will see a theatrical show. Then, we will have a walk inside the Square of Corporations to discover mosaics and trade. Here, we have to use our imagination to distinguish a thousand different languages spoken by the ancient inhabitants of this place. You imagine the bargaining for the purchase of precious materials, marble from Africa, exotic animals for Coliseum's venationes, precious woods, perfumes and rare spices. We will stop for refreshment into an old pub, then we will discover places of worship attended by initiates into the mysteries of the God Mithras, ancient buildings high up to four floors, but also rich aristocratic domus decorated with beautiful marble, fountains and fine mosaics. We will discover mills, bread ovens and public fountains, we will go into an antique market to buy fish, then we will be in front of the temples of the Forum, the real centre of Ostia. Here we will take the auspices, then we will simulate a sacrifice to the ancient Gods, like the sailors who once used to came here from every corner of the Roman Empire. We will ask good omen to Hercules for the sailing we are about to take, and once our ship loaded with supplies purchased in one of the horrea of Ostia, we will eventually spend the afternoon at the Forum's Baths, waiting for favorable winds to our navigation.
Details
4 hours
archaeological area
entrance ticket not included
we suggest comfortable shoes, a hat (in summer) and a light lunch bag. On request it is possible to combine the tour with a mini-cruise from Rome to Ostia on the Tiber river.
