The ancient Roman city of Ostia was in antiquity situated at the mouth of the river Tiber, some 30 kilometres to the west of Rome. The shoreline moved seawards, due to silting, from the Middle Ages until the 19th century. Therefore Ostia is today still lying next to the Tiber, but at a distance of some three kilometers from the beach. Ostia is Latin for "mouth", the mouth of the Tiber. The river was used as harbour, but in the Imperial period two harbour basins were added to the north, near Leonardo da Vinci airport. The harbour district was called Portus, Latin for "harbour".

Ostia Antica is Rome's answer to Pompeii, and though it lacks the volcano backdrop, it is every bit as impressive. In fact, when it comes to atmosphere, ancient Rome's port, which reached its peak in the first and second centuries A.D., wins hands down.

It's an intimate, lived-in kind of place. You can wander into the neighborhood taberna (bar), where wall paintings depict some of the dishes on offer and the refrigeration system consists of huge jars sunk into the floor. There are corn mills, their grindstones still in place. Offices of shipping companies in the Forum of the Corporation have floor mosaics showing the commodities dealt in, while the public latrine must have been a great place to pick up the day's gossip.