2,000 YEARS AGO, THIS WAS A WORKING PORT TOWN.
WANDERING AROUND, YOU CAN IMAGINE THE BUSTLE
AND COMPLEXITY OF A ONCE-THRIVING PORT
OF 60,000 PEOPLE.
WAREHOUSES,
APARTMENT FLATS,
MANSIONS,
SHOPPING ARCADES,
ALL LAID OUT IN A TYPICALLY ROMAN GRID PLAN OF STREETS.
LOCATED WHERE THE TIBER RIVER MEETS THE SEA,
OSTIA WAS FOUNDED IN THE FOURTH CENTURY BEFORE CHRIST.
IT SERVED AS A NAVAL BASE,
PROTECTING ROME FROM ANY INVASION BY RIVER.
IT WAS ALSO AN ADMINISTRATIVE AND WAREHOUSING CENTER,
KEEPING MORE THAN A MILLION ROMANS FED AND IN SANDALS.
BUT EVENTUALLY, THINGS WENT DOWNHILL FOR OSTIA.
ROME FELL, THE RIVER CHANGED COURSE,
THE PORT SILTED-UP AND WAS ABANDONED,
THE ENTIRE PLACE BECAME A MALARIA-INFESTED SWAMP,
AND OSTIA WAS FORGOTTEN.
THE MUD THAT BURIED OSTIA
ACTUALLY PROTECTED IT FROM THE RAVAGES OF TIME,
INCLUDING STONE-SCAVENGING MEDIEVAL PEASANTS.
AND, THANKS TO EXTENSIVE AND ONGOING EXCAVATIONS,
THERE'S LOTS TO SEE.
THIS FINE MOSAIC DECORATED THE BATHS OF NEPTUNE.
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POOL,
NEPTUNE RIDES FOUR HORSES THROUGH THE SEA.
APART FROM THE CUPID RIDING THE DOLPHIN,
THE SEA LOOKS PRETTY FRIGHTENING --
WHICH, TO THOSE ANCIENTS, IT WAS.
THE ADJACENT THEATER SEATED 4,000.
PLAYS WERE ROWDY, DAYTIME EVENTS
WITH LOTS OF AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION --
PERHAPS A BIT LIKE TODAY'S SCHOOL FIELD TRIP.
[ SPEAKING ITALIAN ]
TYPICAL OF ROMAN URBAN DESIGN,
THIS COMPLEX MIXED RELIGION, BUSINESS, AND ENTERTAINMENT --
A GRAND THEATER FACING A TEMPLE,
SURROUNDED BY A COMMERCIAL SQUARE.
THE SQUARE OF THE GUILDS,
LINED WITH OFFICES OF SHIP OWNERS AND TRADERS,
WAS THE BUSTLING CENTER OF ROME'S IMPORT/EXPORT INDUSTRY.
MOSAICS ON THE SIDEWALK ADVERTISE SERVICES
OFFERED BY VARIOUS SHOPS,
WITH SYMBOLS FOR SAILORS AND MERCHANTS
WHO WERE EITHER ILLITERATE OR COULDN'T READ LATIN.
SHIPPERS SHOWED OFF FINE VESSELS.
THIS LIGHTHOUSE WAS THE SIGN OF
THE GREAT EGYPTIAN CITY OF ALEXANDRIA.
GRAIN CONTAINERS ARE REMINDERS THAT GRAIN WAS
THE MAJOR IMPORT OF OSTIA.
Francesca: ROME IMPORTED MOST OF WHAT IT CONSUMED.
THIS BIG JARS CONTAINED OIL, WINE, GRAIN
THAT CAME FROM ALL OVER THE MEDITERRANEAN,
WAS STORED HERE THEN SHIPPED OFF TO ROME.
THIS IS THE MILL --
OSTIA WAS FAMOUS FOR THE QUALITY OF ITS BREAD.
THEY WOULD PUT STICKS THROUGH THESE HOLES,
AND THEN A DONKEY OR A HUMAN
WOULD PUSH THEM AROUND.
OKAY, SO, YOU'D POUR THE GRAIN IN HERE,
GRIND IT UP, FLOUR COMES OUT THE BOTTOM.
AND THAT'S STONE-GROUND, I'D SAY.
ISN'T IT, REALLY.
Steves: I LOVE TO IMAGINE HOW PEOPLE MUST HAVE LIVED HERE.
Francesca: YES, IN APARTMENTS THAT COULD BE
EASILY UP TO FIVE STORIES HIGH.
THEY HAD NO KITCHENS, NO PLUMBING, NO HEATING,
SO, THEY USED THESE APARTMENTS
LIKE TENTS AT A CAMPING SITE, JUST TO SLEEP.
NO KITCHENS? NO KITCHENS.
SO, EVEN TO EAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO GO TO
A FAST FOOD OR A CAFETERIA --
OF THE TIME, IT WAS JUST ACROSS THE STREET.
SO, YOU JUST STEP ACROSS THE STREET TO THE CORNER DINER?
YES.
Steves: 2,000 YEARS AGO, THIS WAS THE NEIGHBORHOOD BAR.
YES, LIKE A CAFETERIA OR A FAST FOOD PLACE.
YOU WOULD COME UP TO THE COUNTER AND MAYBE ORDER SOMETHING TO GO,
MAYBE YOU MIGHT SEE SOME FOOD OR SOME DRINKS ON DISPLAY HERE.
OR, IF YOU HAD TIME, YOU WOULD COME INSIDE
AND YOU COULD HAVE SOMETHING SITTING DOWN.
AND HERE, PROBABLY, THEY HAD A DISPLAY OF THE FOOD
OR MAYBE THE CUPS AND THE PLATES,
AND THEN HERE THERE'S A PICTORIAL MENU
THAT SHOWS US WHAT WAS OFFERED.
SO, WE HAVE FOOD, WE HAVE DRINKS, AND WE HAVE MUSIC.
SO, MUSIC, LIKE,
TUESDAY NIGHT, WE GOT LIVE MUSIC,
OUT IN THE COURTYARD? YES, WHY NOT?
AS YOU CAN SEE, PUBLIC RESTROOMS WERE REALLY PUBLIC,
AND QUITE ADVANCED --
THEY HAD RUNNING WATER COMING THROUGH.
SO, THERE'S A STREAM GOING ALL THE TIME,
CONSTANTLY FLUSHING. CONSTANTLY FLUSHING.
SO, CONSTANTLY CLEAN.
IMAGINE FRESCOES ON THE WALLS,
AND EVEN REVOLVING DOORS AT THE ENTRANCE.
SO EASY TO UNDERESTIMATE HOW ADVANCED ROME WAS.
THAT'S REALLY TRUE.
Steves: OSTIA'S DELIGHTFUL LITTLE MUSEUM
HELPS BRING LIFE TO THESE RUINS.
THESE FINE STATUES -- TANGLED WRESTLERS,
KISSING CUPIDS,
PLAYFUL GODS -- ADORNED THE COURTYARDS
OF WEALTHY OSTIA FAMILIES.
MANY OF THE STATUES ARE SECOND- AND THIRD-CENTURY
ROMAN COPIES INSPIRED BY FAMOUS BUT NOW LOST
GREEK ORIGINALS.
THESE PORTRAIT BUSTS ARE OF REAL PEOPLE,
LIKE THOSE YOU'D MEET ON THE STREETS
RIGHT HERE, 1,800 YEARS AGO.
ONE THING ROMAN ARTISTS DID WELL
WAS CARVE REALISTIC BUSTS.
IT WAS THEIR FORTE,
BECAUSE ROMAN RELIGION REVERED ANCESTORS.
THE MAN OF THE HOUSE, AND HIS FATHER AND GRANDFATHER,
THAT'S WHY STATUES OF DAD AND GRANDPA
WERE OFTEN FOUND IN THE CORNER OF ANY PROPER HOUSE.
ALSO, WITH THE EMPEROR CONSIDERED A GOD,
YOU'D FIND HIS BUST IN CLASSROOMS,
AT THE POST OFFICE, AND ALL OVER TOWN.