Ancient Ostia (Ostia Antica)

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Ancient Ostia; this was the harbour of Rome for centuries (the sea line was much behind, roughly where now is the ss296 street at the bottom).
The name Ostia comes means, in latin, "mouth of the river"; in fact, in ancient times the river mouth was just at the end of the city.
Ostia is belived to be founded during the IV century B.C. as a military base; from the II century B.C the town begun to gain importance as the harbour of rome, becoming a hub for mediterrenean trade routes. The city also developed a cosmpolitian environment, being one of the most important harbour in the mediterrenean.
However, the harbour was basically the mouth of a river, and its capacity was limited; emperor Trajan (106-113 A.D.) decided to build a new artificial harbour some kilometer away (it can be viewed near the Leonardo da Vinci Airport) and a new town, Portus. Ostia still kept its importance until the IV century, when the decline in sea trades resulted in the city being quickly abandoned. The area became infested with marshes and malaria, and until the 19th century only a castle and a small village remained.
Archeological excavation begun in the early 800, while the marshes were dried only toward the end of the century. A new Ostia was founded south of the old town as a sea resort, and in 1923 a railway was build. The area experienced massive urbanization after the 1960, and now is part of Rome city council
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