Today let me give you some glimpses of the fantastic Archaeological Park of Ostia Antica that is perfect if you want to spend a beautiful Sunday here in Rome. A unique place, larger than Pompeii itself if it is considered that the whole northern part of the city, beyond the current course of the Tiber, is still to be excavated and discovered. But even with the undiscovered area we can consider this wonderful archeological park, with monuments such as the Theater or the Capitolium, the remains of the rich domus and commercial buildings or an ancient fast food, not only the first colony of Rome (founded according to tradition by Anco Marzio, one of the kings of the archaic city) as a place full of things, something that offers a lot!

A real city having a commercial and military spirit that over the centuries develloped in order to create a great urban centre. Born as a defensive outpost, to safeguard the mouth of the Tiber from any external threats (and the map of the city which follows that of a classic castrum, a military roman camp, confirms it), step by step, since the late Republican age, Ostia has changed its appearance, becoming the port of Rome, the outlet to other kingdoms or territories controlled by Rome. This is the secret of the place: we imagine merchant ships moored in the port, and unload goods of all types and extractions (from food to clothes, from spices to building materials), even from places far from the Caput Mundi. It is no coincidence that Ostia derives from the Latin word ostium which means mouth and access.

Visiting the extensive archaeological area, as mentioned before still today excavated surely will reserve other surprises in the future, you can really travel in time discovering something more than everyday life. The numerous thermal baths introduce us, for example, with their magnificent mosaics in black and white tiles and their still visible substructures, how the ordinary people of Ostia loved to spend their free time. The mitreans, temples often underground or in any case hidden from view which, on the other hand, indicate the presence of numerous adepts to this mystery cult that is very rooted at the time, or the numerous insulae and beautiful domus, a way to understand how the Ostiensi (the citizens of this city) from different social backgrounds used to live. But it is especially in its golden period, the 1st century a.D. around, that Ostia became that symbol for which it is still known today: access point for goods and people very far from Rome, who reached the Eternal City by sea. A Rome capable of engulfing everything, assimilating different products, cultures and traditions through its commercial and military strength. A perfect place, with the headquarters of the ancient and powerful corporations and the numerous temples (also of oriental and non-native cults), which attest to how much Rome was a real melting pot, a melting pot of different peoples who, voluntarily or not, accepted to be under the same banner, the same idea, the same civilization: the Roman one. The archeological park of Ostia Antica must be seen, mainly with a tour guide like me, even to discover more about some secrets of the ancient romans, like this one...