Today we headed out of town to Ostia Antica. Ostia was Rome's port town on the mouth of the Tiber. Founded a couple of hundred years before Christ, it thrived for about 400-500 years as the Empire's export/ import center. Eventually the river changed course, the harbor silted in, Rome collapsed and Ostia was eventually abandoned…a Roman ghost town. Over time it was slowly covered by silt from the frequent floods of the river, overgrown, and forgotten. The malaria laden marshes also kept people away, so a surprising amount of original material is still there. It wasn't excavated until the 1930s as part of Mussolini's efforts to showcase the glory of ancient Rome. Reportedly, it's a lot like Pompeii but without the 3.5 hour trip and hordes of tourists.
Our guide today was a Civil Engineer turned Archaeologist in Italy working on her PhD dissertation. She was studying the heated Roman baths at Ostia Antica and how thermal transfer occurred according to the design of the baths. Does that sound boring? It was. However, there were some interesting things at the site and we pretty much had the place to ourselves, which was great after being elbow to elbow with other sweaty tourists all week.
The road in to Ostia is grooved by several hundred years of carts and chariots wearing away the stones.
There's a lot more here than at the Roman Forum. You can actually tell there was a town. Many of the original floor mosaics are still in place.
The Public Loo
Close-up of the loo. A constant stream of running water beneath the John did provide some flushage. Privacy was lacking.
They had a sewer and buried water mains bringing in clean water under pressure. It would be about 1500+ years before this level of civil engineering would be duplicated.
Davis surveying the ruins. Umbrella pines (distance) are everywhere. They are neat trees.
Heated bath. Hot air from a furnace flowed between the columns below the floor and through air gaps in the walls.
The public theatre.
The design and scale is amazing. It feels just like sitting in a modern ballpark.
A take-out window for the local restaurant.
Olive Oil storage depot.
At the Fishmonger
Our children decided that if they sat still enough at the train station, someone would put money in their hats. Nope.
The regional train system is very nice, but a bit crowded.
Rome's subway scores at the bottom of our experience. Dirty, crowded, not maintained, very little coverage of the city (although to be fair, they can't dig a tunnel more than 3 feet without hitting some ancient ruin). We had heard a great deal before our trip about Europe's "gleaming infrastructure." The bullet trains are a step ahead of anything we have in the US, and you could certainly visualize their usefulness someplace like the East Coast or California. Otherwise, I'm not sure that Europe is much different Unites States. Getting around Chicago, San Francisco or New York seems about the same as getting around London, Paris, or Rome. There are about the same number of people in far less space, so there's less elbow room and sprawl and countryside. One useful thing about international travel is that it makes you appreciate what you have at home.
Ostia Antica occupied a large portion of our day. The rest of the day was consumed by a nap and early dinner. Our world travels are coming to a close. Tomorrow we may visit the National Museum of Rome, since it's only a couple of blocks away. Saturday we are headed home...and we are all ready to be there. Ciao.
iPhoto's map of our recent pictures
Wow! What a trip you've had! Thanks for taking us along with you!!
ReplyDeleteKristi