Next stop on my tour of the key Roman sites of Rome and its surrounding countryside was Ostia Antica. This is, without a doubt, my new favourite archaeological site.
Only discovered and excavated in the last century, the site is yet to be over-run by tourists and site-seeing tours. Because of this, the whole area is still virtually totally un-fenced and, although there is a free basic map and a visitor centre, you are still free to go and explore wherever you choose in relative peace and quiet. Provided you have a reasonable working knowledge of the layout of Roman towns (if you don't, all you need to do is watch Mary Beard's 'Meet the Romans'), you can spend, as I did, an entire day wandering around and stumbling across some truly magnificent finds.
If anyone is taking a trip to Rome in the near future, I would definitely recommend Ostia to you. It really is the most incredible place.
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| Roman takeaways: produce display area in a shop selling hot and cold food just off the forum |
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| Counter facing out onto the street at this shop |
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| Part of a beautiful fresco in a private residence |
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| The street that many of the food shops and stalls face onto |
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| The infamous 20-seat public latrine! |
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| Me with the forum in the background |
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| The entrance to a family's mausoleum, where the urns of both family members and their slaves were kept |
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| One of the rooms of this mausoleum. Significant family members, such as the husband and wife, would have been placed in the larger alcoves, with children and slaves taking up the smaller alcoves |
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| A mosaic advert for a stall dealing in exotic animals. This is in the marketplace that lay behind the ampitheatre (see below) |
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| The beautiful ampitheatre |
© Jenna Townend 2013
