Videos - Documentaries, lectures and teaching

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Documentaries, lectures and teaching

On this page we present first of all three documentaries. The first, from 2015, is in Italian only. It was produced by RAI 3 and presented by Alberto Angela. The second and third are in English. They were published by ValkVisuals in 1992, and by History International in 2011. Below that you will find recordings of lectures and teaching.

Viaggio tra i segreti e i tesori di Ostia antica (Rai 3, 2015)

Journey through the secrets and treasures of Ostia Antica
A few steps from Rome is the largest archaeological site on the planet (150 hectares), yet little known to the general public: Ostia Antica with its ancient port. Tourists who, while staying in Rome, skip the remains of the ancient town do not know that in Ostia it is possible to see how society was organized and what daily life was like at the time of the empire. The town behind a town (ValkVisuals, 1992)

The late Alberino Vicari, restorer of wall paintings, features in this video about Ostia Antica. Movie provided by ValkVisuals bv.

Ostia - The Sunken City (1/3) (History International, 2011)

The ancient Roman City of Ostia was once a vital seaport. Yet it died a slow, painful death. This documentary explores the reasons for its demise and looks at the abandoned wasteland today. Ostia - The Sunken City (2/3)

Ostia - The Sunken City (3/3)

Augustine in Ostia. The Roman City in AD 387 - Loss, Transience, Memory, and Renewal in a Harbour City. Luke Lavan, University of Kent.

This lecture explores the text of St. Augustine's Confessions, book IX, which describes his visit to the port city of Ostia in AD 387, in terms of the results of the University of Kent's excavation and survey work in 2008-2012. It presents a visual narrative of reconstructed images following the experience of Augustine, his mother and son around the city, as they waited for a ship back home to Africa. This event was held to mark the completion of a 3 year research project "The Visualisation of the Late Antique City", funded by the Leverhulme Trust (2020). Maritime connectivity in the Roman world: Portus, the Tiber and the sea. Peter Campbell, British School at Rome.

This talk examines Roman maritime connectivity and how ships influenced settlement patterns along rivers and coastlines, maritime infrastructure and the spread of goods and ideas. It draws on the author's maritime fieldwork in Albania, Greece and Italy, as well as archival research, ethnography and environmental modelling, in order to speak broadly about movement at sea and its impact on the ancient world (2020).

Walking Between Gods and Mortals: reconsidering the movement of Roman religious processions. Katherine Crawford, University of Southampton.

This paper applies a network analysis and agent-based modelling approach to consider new ways of studying the movement patterns of religious processions at Ostia, Rome's ancient port (2017). The Roman Way of Life and Death at Ostia, the Port of Rome. Diana Kleiner, Yale University.

Professor Kleiner focuses on Ostia, the port of Rome, characterized by its multi-storied residential buildings and its widespread use of brick-faced concrete (2009).

Paolo Tomassini, Le Caseggiato delle Taberne Finestrate d'Ostie: un cas idéal pour une étude du bâti et une analyse des peintures murales fragmentaires (15 March 2017). Conférence de Paolo Tomassini (UCL). La peinture à Ostie comme reflet du modus vivendi romain de la République à Constantin (18 February 2015).

Paolo Tomassini (Ecole Française de Rome). Décorer le port de Rome - La peinture murale d'Ostie (24 February 2023).


Viaggio tra i segreti e i tesori di Ostia antica (Rai 3, 2015) Journey through the secrets and treasures of Ostia Antica A few steps from Rome is the largest archaeological site on the planet (150 hectares), yet little known to the general public: Ostia Antica with its ancient port. Tourists who, while staying in Rome, skip the remains of the ancient town do not know that in Ostia it is possible to see how society was organized and what daily life was like at the time of the empire.	The town behind a town (ValkVisuals, 1992) The late Alberino Vicari, restorer of wall paintings, features in this video about Ostia Antica. Movie provided by ValkVisuals bv.

Ostia - The Sunken City (1/3) (History International, 2011) The ancient Roman City of Ostia was once a vital seaport. Yet it died a slow, painful death. This documentary explores the reasons for its demise and looks at the abandoned wasteland today.	Ostia - The Sunken City (2/3)

Ostia - The Sunken City (3/3)

Augustine in Ostia. The Roman City in AD 387 - Loss, Transience, Memory, and Renewal in a Harbour City. Luke Lavan, University of Kent. This lecture explores the text of St. Augustine's Confessions, book IX, which describes his visit to the port city of Ostia in AD 387, in terms of the results of the University of Kent's excavation and survey work in 2008-2012. It presents a visual narrative of reconstructed images following the experience of Augustine, his mother and son around the city, as they waited for a ship back home to Africa. This event was held to mark the completion of a 3 year research project "The Visualisation of the Late Antique City", funded by the Leverhulme Trust (2020).	Maritime connectivity in the Roman world: Portus, the Tiber and the sea. Peter Campbell, British School at Rome. This talk examines Roman maritime connectivity and how ships influenced settlement patterns along rivers and coastlines, maritime infrastructure and the spread of goods and ideas. It draws on the author's maritime fieldwork in Albania, Greece and Italy, as well as archival research, ethnography and environmental modelling, in order to speak broadly about movement at sea and its impact on the ancient world (2020).

Walking Between Gods and Mortals: reconsidering the movement of Roman religious processions. Katherine Crawford, University of Southampton. This paper applies a network analysis and agent-based modelling approach to consider new ways of studying the movement patterns of religious processions at Ostia, Rome's ancient port (2017).	The Roman Way of Life and Death at Ostia, the Port of Rome. Diana Kleiner, Yale University. Professor Kleiner focuses on Ostia, the port of Rome, characterized by its multi-storied residential buildings and its widespread use of brick-faced concrete (2009).

Paolo Tomassini, Le Caseggiato delle Taberne Finestrate d'Ostie: un cas idéal pour une étude du bâti et une analyse des peintures murales fragmentaires (15 March 2017).	Conférence de Paolo Tomassini (UCL). La peinture à Ostie comme reflet du modus vivendi romain de la République à Constantin (18 February 2015).

Paolo Tomassini (Ecole Française de Rome). Décorer le port de Rome - La peinture murale d'Ostie (24 February 2023).