Rome's Port

Today we ventured out of the main city of Rome to Ostia Antica. Ostia Antica is an archeological site, close to Ostia (a suburb of Rome), that houses the remains of an important port city of ancient Rome. Ostia served as Rome's seaport for a time, and was an important part of bringing goods, including food, to Rome's 1 million residents.

Something particularly interesting about Ostia is that it is one of the only cities that contains well-preserved ruins of buildings that would have been an important part of day-to-day life. In Rome, most of the structures that remain are grand forums, marble statues and impressive buildings. Because Ostia was abandoned very suddenly, it seems to have been almost frozen in time - only effected by the natural decay of aging structures. We got the chance to see apartment buildings and homes that the citizens of Ostia would have lived in, as well as where their shopping centers and markets would have been. We even went inside of an old firemen's barrack, which is something I had never seen before. We visited an ancient "dry-cleaners", where people would send their togas to be washed. Something interesting (and still kind of gross) that we learned about these cleaners is that they very often used urine as a detergent. This meant that public toilets were of great value to these businessmen, as it gave them a place to get urine cheaply to use for their shops.

This is the "fire station". It is interesting to note that these firemen would have been much more military personnel than the firemen we think of today, making these barracks similar to a military base. 

These are the tubs that would have been used to wash togas in the ancient world, often using urine as detergent. 

While in Ostia, we also visited the town's forum. What struck me the most about this area was that it was incredibly similar to the way the forums looked in the heart of Rome. This is likely because the leaders of Rome would have heavily influenced the way things were done here, and even gotten involved themselves if a particular project interested them or was of significant worth to them. It is interesting to note details like this, because it shows an excellent example of the power held by leaders in Rome at this time, and their desire to show that power to people under their rule.

View of housing and a piece of the forum from atop the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus (a temple to the same god, and with the same general layout, as the temple atop Capitoline Hill in Rome). 

Ostia also served an interesting purpose in that it was used as our stepping stone into the early days of Christianity. There is evidence of early Christianity in Ostia, as we have reached the point in our chronological study of Rome when Jesus would have been alive and starting his ministry. It is incredible to think about how quickly this message spread, and the way it changed society in Rome as a whole. Christianity, unlike the pagan religions of the past, is a belief system for everyone. Rich, poor, criminals, prostitutes, thieves, saints, sinners, the whole lot. This idea of everyone being equal in the eyes of God, and everyone worthy of His love and mercy, rubs a lot of the wealthier Roman people the wrong way. With their pagan gods, they could win their favor with sacrifice or showy temples in which they would show off their wealth. The Christian God has no interest in these worldly possessions, and shows no favor to the rich or proud. I am interested to continue to learn about how this shift in religion changes Roman culture as a whole.