According to tradition the forth king of Rome, Ancus Martius, determined to insure the safety of the “ostium” , that is the mouth of the Tiber, established a colony, Ostia.

In republican times Ostia was Rome’s main commercial port and military base, defending the coastline. A busy commercial centre with rows of shops, modest living quarters for common people, rich and dwelling houses for the well to do and numerous temples.

Under Augustus, intensive building activity developed , permitting Ostia to adapt to its growing importance… the seat of the vast food-supply organization of the capital.

People of all social classes and from all over the Mediterranean lived and worked here, more than 60.000 at its peak.

Buried for centuries the city is remarkably well preserved and it gives a complete picture of life under the Roman Empire with its baths, laundries, firemen’s barracks, taverns, public granaries and “insulae” multi-storey apartment blocks!