Excavation area Ostia Scavi

Returning to the Decumanus Maximus, on the right can be seen first the fourth century Christian basilica, so far the only Christian church found in Ostia. Opposite lies the Schola di Traiano (second/third century), the meeting place of ship-owners and mariners and named after a statue of Trajan found there. Prior to its erection dwellings stood here; in the southeastern corner there still stands a peristyle with a nymphaeum.

At the corner of Via dei Vigili (on right), are the Baths of Neptune, with heating arrangements at the northeast corner (good general view from a terrace on the first floor). At the end of Via dei Vigili, on the left, are the Watchmen's Barracks (second century A.D.), with an imposing central courtyard.

In Via della Foce, lie the Baths of the Seven Sages, with a beautiful mosaic floor in the central domed room, portraying hunters and animals. Nearby are remains of the multi-story House of the Charioteer.

On the same side of the Decumanus Maximus is the 108m/118yd long block of apartments known as Della Fontana a Lucerna, with shops on the ground floor. Opposite lies a Garden Town. The mosaic floors and heated bathrooms suggest that these apartment blocks were built to a high standard. The Decumanus Maximus ends at the Porta Marina (parking lot).

When returning to the entrance to the excavation site it is worth making a detour to the south town gate, the Porta Laurentina. There, on the town wall, lies the traingular Campus Magnae Matris, with remains of the Temple of Kybele.

Beyond the Thermopolium in Ostia Scavi, to the right, the imposing Capitolium (second century A.D.) was the religious center of the town. Standing on a high brick base, this was the only building of ancient Ostia which remained above ground throughout the Middle Ages.

The Decumanus Maximus, the main street of ancient Ostia, more than 1km/0.75mi long starts here. Beyond the gate, on the left, is the Piazzale della Vittoria, named after the statue of Minerva Victoria (first century A.D.) which was found here; on the right can be seen the ruins of a corn store (horrea) dating from the first century B.C.

To the south of the Capitolium is the Forum, in the center of the town at the intersection of the Decumanus with the Cardo Maximus, the principal transverse street. On the south side of the Forum are the remains of the Temple of Roma and Augustus (first century A.D.), with a statue of the victorious Roma. To the west, beyond a basilica, is a rotunda (third century A.D.) in the style of the Pantheon. Southeast of the Forum are large second century Baths.

In a road running parallel to the Cardo Maximus, west of the forum, will be found the Horrea Epagathiana, impressive privately-owned warehouses with a handsome gateway and a two-story arcaded courtyard. Opposite, in the Domus di Amore e Psiche, a typical dwelling with inner courtyard, is a well-preserved marble floor.

Farther along the Decumanus, on the right, are four small temples built on an older substructure, with a large granary (Grandi Horrea) to the west. Beyond this, also on the right-hand side of the Decumanus, is a well-preserved Thermopolium, a stone counter containing basins for cooling the drinks and tiers of shelves for drinking vessels.

Along the Decumanus past the Baths in Ostia Scavi, we come to the Theater, originally built in the time of Augustus and enlarged under Septimius Severus, with seating for 2,700 spectators. From the highest tier of seating there is a good view of the excavations, particularly of the Piazzale delle Corporazioni immediately north of the theater, with the columns of the Temple of Ceres. Along the east side of this square are the offices (scholae) of the various shipping corporations trading with overseas ports, mainly in Africa. To the west of the theater is the House of Marcus Apuleius Marcellus (second-third centuries A.D.), with a peristyle and atrium of Pompeian type. Adjoining it on the north is a shrine of Mithras.

Just beyond the main entrance of the excavation area of Ostia Scavi, along the ancient Via Ostiensis and in the parallel street to the south, the Via delle Tombe (even more impressive), are rows of tombs, both individual tombs, sometimes of considerable size, and columbaria with niches for large numbers of urns. The Via Ostiensis leads to the remains of the Porta Romana, the most important of the town's three gates.