L

mi-::s ll'oln the grouncl, irr- , :t]'ltLtuious architecture.- - t',-iar.l near the temple: t,-| the ancient Portar :r,iiua, where orre can see:'--lains of the , ,X{etloon,'- :r,eeting' square of the': -i I )stians) ancl of the. " l-ielcl, Jtefore the ternple=-,,.. lYinding through the.-r,s of the buildings be--.r, tiie 'lemple of \rulcan; : .. Iiber, a road leads to: - rlr:l'lll&e; Orre can Still reC-.f iitere the caliclarium and.,r.mming pool.OSTIA, ANCIENT AND N,TODERN71ET\l-trllN the temple and:-re rir.er there lics thel rlial palace, " adornecl;, . slanite Corinthian col-- -s. At first it was thought' ..; tlese- ruirrs were those of. Theruiae; but the inscrip-- -,: discovered later proved:.., tile-Y belonged to the im-.rlr,.l palace of Commodius.;=:-. one may find manV nota-. ilosaics, especiall-1- one- ,,,:l represents a lab,vrinth.-, the west of the palace can. seen the remains of the Ar--*:-al (Navalia) built by Caius-.I i.,ri.ris, praetor of Ostia ;:-,-rlce, through other ruins,r : c&n get to the "emporium"' -",r'e there still remains uir-: -,:hed a room containing- :ne large jars, half buried in,.. ground.Tacitus tells us that Ostiai-r' Nero was populous and:-:lr. It must certainl;' hays':El a very busv town, for-'.,.-ailable inscriptions recall-.r:lrrrerous guilds among shipi, llet-i (" domini navium,'),-.:-,1 mariners-guilds which in:,-e fourth centurl- becameSrial institutions.Towards the -vear 450 A.D.r.tia reached its greatest. ,,rv: its population attained: .t)00 ; it was celebrated as a' ' lnoenissima civitas " (veryrt-ightful city) ; and the villas-r, its vicinity were used:;r'undantly by the Romans.Ti,e inscriptions recall twomembers of the Gamala famill',lr.ho became famous for their.munificence, for they offeredthe people exceptional gladiatorialperformances I the;. gavehim a banquet of 200 triclini;the;' paved streets and restorecltemples. Also thel' erected amarble Tribunal in the Forum,and remade the Arsenal andthe Antonian Thermae, whichhad been destroyed b;'fire.I f / ITH the decarlence ofVY Ro*", Ostia also dierlslowly. Commerce withered,the citizenry emigrated, piracybegan to spread. It was thelatter which finall,r' gave thecity its death blow, by terrorizingits citizens. All workstopped, and all its splendorswere buried for many centuries.Such are the rerniniscencesand the comparisons whicharise from the white skeletonsof the ruins of Ostia.Here, the steamship companiesof the great ports of theEast and JVest, of Marseilles,S-vracuse, the Piraeus, Alexan,dria and Byzantium had theirships, docks and maritimeinsurance companies. Man,vtestimonials remain, especiallyin epigraphs, of these corporationsand their corrunerce.In a large square of the citS'a very important artistic discoverywas made a few yearsAn Airplane View ol Ostiaago: a great statue of \,'ictor),was brought to light.'fl H IS lalge statue is ofI marlrlc. Tlre large goddessis clothed in a rich and longmantle which reaches to theground; the helmet has threecrests; she holds with her righthand the shield leaning on theground. Two majestic wingsco\rer the sides of the columnrvhich forms the rear of thestatue. The left arm, nowmissing, must have been liftedin the act of handing a wreath.This statue, discovered onRomarr ground, must have beenRoman, for its workmanshipis Roman. ft may be attributedto the second half of the firstcentury (and perhaps to thelirst few -years of the secondcentury of our era) yet the conceptionand the style of thework are not Roman, butGreek.This is the statue the imageof whicli will be the coat ofarms of the new Ostia. Thusthe noble " Ostian Victory, "rising from the earth at theopportune time, becomes thes)'mbol and the omen of modernOstia, which is destined,like ancient Ostia, to becomenot only the t'Amoena civitas"of ancient times, but also thegreat and real port of FascistRome.