Field trip day! Well kinda, anyway- we took a train out to Ostia Antica, a port city for ancient Rome that managed to stay mostly preserved after it was abandoned with the fall of the empire. Not so great for Ostia, maybe, but pretty awesome for us to be able to wander around the city and see some of the types of houses people would have lived in, laundry facilities, a forum, the firemen's station, the theater, etc. Might've been a little creepy, really, if you went when it was dark out but for us it was pretty amazing. As we were walking in past the necropolis to enter the city, we came across what was my favorite statue of the day- Winged Victory or a more rare depiction of Minerva with wings. Absolutely gorgeous to look at, whatever goddess it was meant to represent.
Most impressive to me, I think, was seeing the mosaics for businesses and in homes that have remained intact on the floor. The one featuring Neptune was my favorite. It was extremely well preserved and beautiful to look at. I only wish that the one near it, that possibly had Christian symbols on it, hadn't been covered! They must have been working to restore it or something, but I wish I could've seen it!
Walking around the city, I was really impressed with the grain-keeping house and several of the housing areas. What struck me most, however, was the theater! The wood on the stage was a little silly, I thought, considering that it wouldn't have even been wood originally, but it was very cool to be able to stand on the stage and look out at the nearby temple and where the businesses would've been set up nearby.
The laundry facilities were also really amazing to look at as well, but considering the detergent being used was usually urine? I think I'll stick to being thankful for laundry machines and laundromats. Whoever decided that hey, maybe urine isn't that great for washing clothes, thank you. So much.
Inside the museum of Ostia, there were some unique pieces of sculpture presumably from the town itself. A smaller museum, maybe, than the others we've been visiting, but I really enjoyed being able to look around. My favorite piece from the museum is included below, as I really liked the detail done on the cow/bull? Reminded me of how delighted my cousin would be back home that I've managed to find a cow in Italy.
I also thought using urine to wash clothes was a really gross aspect. Do you know what the average age was that people lived? Like i feel like wearing clothes washed with urine and not brushing their teeth and stuff would've made their life expectancy go down in that time period. Good post!! :)
ReplyDeleteFrom some quick Googling (so who knows if it's accurate or not for sure) the average life expectancy was mid 20s to early 30s - agreed! Though I know some cultures did actually brush their teeth in a way, not sure if it carried over to the Romans or not. But, if I remember right, there was a way to brush teeth using like a stick kind of thing and chalk? Maybe that was in later cultures, I'd have to go look it up, it's been a few years since I learned that! At least we know they had bath houses, right? So hey, that's a step up from some European practices during that time period!
DeleteI agree the preserved mosaics were some of the coolest things about Ostia Antica especially the ones in front of the business that either showed what the business was or had some name on the mosaic to identify it. Also the theater was one my favorite places as well, to actually climb up and sit in the theater was wicked awesome! Were you around when I tested the acoustics? If not I'm sorry you missed out because that was really cool. Great post!
ReplyDeleteOh man, you tested the acoustics? I must've missed that while I was wandering around the shops, that would've been awesome! It was neat to look at all the mosaics on the storefronts, unsurprisingly many of them had a water theme going- lots of fish and boats and waves going on. It was really impressive to see just how many stayed so well intact, never ceases to amaze me! And thank you!
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