Ostia's golden years: the second and early third century

During its hey-day Ostia was a densely populated city, with a large variety of buildings, and a mixed and "international" population. But first and foremost it was a harbour city, serving the needs of Rome, characterized by warehouses and the seats of guilds. Ostia was much smaller than harbour cities such as Alexandria and Carthage. Not only was Ostia smaller, it was also more functional. Porticos flanking the streets are found throughout the city, but identical porticos facing each other are exceptional. There were only a few squares. There was no amphitheatre, no circus (Puteoli, formerly the main harbour of Rome, had a theatre, two amphitheatres and a circus). The sudden commercial opportunities that arose after the construction of Trajan's harbour were seized by entrepreneurs, who were interested in profit, not in developing Ostia's non-functional infrastructure.

The Emperors and Ostia

The addition of the harbour district was followed by a building boom and great prosperity in Ostia. The overwhelming majority of the buildings that have been excavated was built in the first three quarters of the second century, especially during the reigns of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. The prosperity lasted until the Severan period, that is the early third century.

When the work on Trajan's harbour was finished, the builders turned their attention to Ostia and started rebuilding the city, supervised by Hadrian (how they were able to take over the properties of the local aristocracy remains a mystery). Hadrian was twice duovir of Ostia, and in an inscription he was honoured because he had "preserved and enlarged the colony with all his indulgence and liberality" (colonia conservata et aucta omni indulgentia et liberalitate eius). It was not self-evident that Ostia would flourish: it was the Emperor who ensured that it would be the organisational and financial centre. During the reign of Hadrian the north-east part of the city (including the area that had been reserved by Caius Caninius) was rebuilt with a rectangular plan. Fire-fighters (vigiles) from Rome were stationed in new barracks in this area. A huge Capitolium was erected to the north of the Forum. Large baths were donated by Hadrian and his successor Antoninus Pius, and by Gavius Maximus, an official in Rome. Warships from Misenum, a military naval base, were stationed at Ostia. The sailors may have taken governors and Emperors to the provinces. They were also in charge of the awnings of the Colosseum in Rome.

Aerial view of Hadrianic buildings, including the Capitolium, in the centre of Ostia. Photo: Parco Archeologico di Ostia Antica.

Commodus enlarged the theatre and refounded the colony as Colonia Felix Commodiana ("Happy Colony of Commodus"), a name that would be forgotten however after he was killed in 192 AD. in the Severan period building activity was mostly restricted to repairs and modifications. Septimius Severus also improved a road along the beach, connecting the mouth of the Tiber and Terracina. Probably during the reign of Alexander Severus, the last Emperor of the Severan dynasty (222-235 AD), a large round temple was built to the west of the Forum. It resembles the Pantheon in Rome. Inscriptions testify to the existence of an Imperial palace in Ostia.

The local government

The most important magistrates were two duoviri. They were appointed for a period of one year and presided over the city council. They acted as judges, but could not pass sentence of death, which could only be done in Rome. Therefore the symbols of their power were not fasces, a bundle of rods and an axe, but bacilli, rods without an axe. The duoviri were supported by two aediles, who supervised the markets, the standard weights and measures, and public facilities. Finances were in the hands of two quaestores aerarii. The aerarium, the city treasury, was presumably stored in the basement of the Capitolium. A curator operum publicorum et aquarum oversaw public buildings and the water supply. From the period of Trajan the quaestor alimentorum took care of poor children.

Top. Arches of the aqueduct. Photo: Simon Bakker. Right. Portrait of Trajan found in Ostia. Photo: Wikimedia, Sailko.

The city council had 100 (later 110) members called decuriones. In order to be admitted one had to be freeborn (which was also true for the sons of freed slaves), at least 25 years old, and wealthy enough to pay an entrance fee. The council itself chose new members. It was supported by secretaries (scribae), attendants (lictores), messengers (viatores), town criers (praecones), and public slaves and freedmen. The latter were organized in a guild. In the early Imperial period the people could elect the duoviri, but by the beginning of the second century AD this was no longer the case. Elections had ceased, and the city council appointed the duoviri.

Religious offices also formed part of a public career (cursus honorum). Vulcanus was the protective deity of Ostia, and his main priest, the pontifex Volcani, had general control over all temples in the city. He was assisted by praetores and aediles. He may be compared with the pontifex maximus in Rome, an office that was always held by the Emperor. In Ostia this office was the summit of a political career. It was held for life. Minor religious offices were the priesthood of Roma and Augustus, related to the temple to the south of the Forum, and the priesthood of a deified emperor.

Ostia also needed patrons, who could stand up for the interests of the city in Rome. Therefore patroni were elected who had been successful in Rome. If possible, men of Ostian descent were selected.

Trade and commerce

Skippers from many provinces transported goods to the harbours, for example wine from France, olive oil from southern Spain, grain from Tunisia and Egypt, marble from Tunisia, Greece and Turkey, and metal. Upon arrival the goods were stored in horrea (warehouses), and transported later to Rome along the Tiber in tow-boats pulled by men (codicarii), in late antiquity by oxen. The skippers (navicularii) and some local craftsmen and merchants were organized in guilds called collegia. The "control room" for this complex organization was the Square of the Corporations, behind the theatre. Here representatives of the guilds and of the administration had small offices, identified by mosaics with inscriptions and depictions of ships, the lighthouse of Portus, grain measures, and dolphins. It was the Roman alternative for email and the mobile phone.

The office of the "navicul(arii) et negotiantes Karalitani", the skippers and merchants from Cagliari (Sardinia) on the Square of the Corporations. The cargo ship below the text is flanked by grain measures. Photo: Gerard Huissen.

Both free and freed people could join the guilds. The presidents of the guilds were called quinquennales. They held the office for a period of five years. The treasurers were called quaestores, the ordinary members formed the plebs. And, like the colony, the guilds could have patrons. The largest local guilds were those of the builders and ship carpenters (fabri tignuarii and fabri navales), with hundreds of members. The ship carpenters repaired ships, which was an ongoing activity, and most likely also built new ones. The guilds cannot be compared with mediaeval guilds, if only because membership was not obligatory. They were of social importance, remembering for example deceased members. If the economic role was crucial, the guild was given the status of "body" (corpus). The members then had to perform duties in the public interest, but in return received exemptions from public duties, comparable to our tax exemptions.

The people

Through immigration and the import of slaves the population rose to perhaps forty thousand, including many slaves. Most slaves were taken to Ostia from the Greek-speaking East. Many must have been foundlings, but the breeding of slaves must also have been a profitable trade. Most families had at least one slave, and there were many Imperial slaves, working in the harbour and warehouses. Many slaves were manual labourers, others were clerks and accountants. The most frequent slave-name is Felix: "Happy".

In this period we witness a rise in society of a middle class of traders and merchants, often not of Ostian origin. Some were free immigrants, others freedmen. If we believe the inscriptions, then the vast majority of the population of Ostia in the later second century was made up of freedmen and their children. It is possible however that freedmen felt the need to self-advertise their newly acquired status, and that, as a result, they are over-represented in the epigraphic record. Especially people from North Africa started to play a dominant role, but France, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Syria and Egypt are also documented. We encounter the new arrivals as procuratores annonae, in the city council, and involved in all phases of the grain-supply: as owners and skippers of ships transporting grain over the sea and the Tiber, as grain merchants (mercatores frumentarii), and as grain weighers (mensores frumentarii).

The grain measuring centre of Ostia. Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

Freedmen were often active in the trade of their former master, now their patron. The guild of the Seviri Augustales, focusing on the cult of the Emperors, was entirely made up of freedmen. It resembled the trade guilds. And as magistri vici ("ward masters") freedmen were in charge of the cult of the Lares Compitales, deities worshipped at crossroads.

The vast majority of the population lived in rented apartments, some luxurious, others quite simple. Most of the apartments were on the upper floors of high-rising buildings made of thick concrete walls faced with bricks and sometimes small tufa stones. The expensive apartments were decorated with excellent paintings and mosaics, and had their own kitchen and latrine. Less fortunate people used communal latrines and public water basins. All inhabitants took good care of their bodies: the number of public baths in Ostia is astonishing.

The interior of an expensive rented apartment. Photo: Klaus Heese.

A large necropolis on the Isola Sacra, near Portus, shows that apartments must also have been built near the harbour basins. The famous physician Galenus worked in Ostia in the later third century. He wrote: "All the doctors in these places [Ostia and Portus] are my friends, and both are populous centres". Still, Portus does not seem to have had a very large residential area, and many people who worked in Portus must have lived in Ostia. They crossed the Tiber with ferries (there does not seem to have been a bridge) and could be taken all the way to Portus on a canal dug through the Isola Sacra.