Ostia Antica

Today, we took a train about 30 minutes southwest to visit Ostia Antica, the harbor of ancient Rome. It is tremendously large and an excellent site to explore if you want to get a grasp on the layout of a typical Roman city. Just like any other Roman city, Ostia had a a bath complex, a theater, a forum, and many residential buildings. The bath complex had this entricate mosaic of Neptune. One of my favorite things about the site, though, was the marketplace. Since Ostia was on the Mediterranean Sea, it was a very important commercial hub. Mosaics were used to label the type of stores. My favorite, an elephant (Roll Tide!), marked some sort of Eastern shop. There was a museum in the middle of the site, but it really wasn't anything special. After a thorough exploration of the site, we headed back to Rome. Then, I decided to do some more independent exploration. First, I checked out Piazza Navona, a "square" which actually is oblong in shape in order to maintain the original dimensions of the Circus of Domition, which used to be in that exact location. In the middle of Piazza Navona lies the Four Rivers Fountain with a huge obelisk stemming from that. It truly is a beautiful sculptual work of Bernini. Then, I proceeded east and ran into the Column of Marcus Aurelius, which was inspired by that of Trajan and also having reliefs of his wars. Finally, I made it to the Trevi Fountain, one of the most beautiful combinations of architecture and outdoor sculpture and relief that I have ever seen. Then, I called it a day and went back to the apartment, where I just hung out for the rest of the evening.