ANCIENT OSTIA

Evening Star, Issue 19779, 1 February 1928, Page 8

ANCIENT OSTIA

RESULT OF EXCAVATIONS HOW THE PEOPLE LIVED Excavations at Ostia, the ancient port of Rome, continue to enrich our picture of antique living conditions. Ostia, is is believed, did not greatly differ from the capital—save, of course, in size and magnificence. Building construction and house planning appear to have been ranch the same as in Rome. In its prime this port town numbered about 100,000 citizens. Ethel Hampson Brewster, a professor of Latin and the dean ol women in Swurthmore College, has just returned from a year spent abroad, mostly in Rome. She was much interested in the work that is being done at Ostia, and says that ruins noiv being unearthed there indicate that houses four and five stories high were by no moans uncommon. “ Origin of the block type of structures has been popularly attributed to the Renaissance.” said Professor Brewster, recently, “ but as removal of the debris of centuries at Ostia proceeds, it becomes more and more clear that the Romans knew all about vertical construction and made a regular practice of putting up houses several stories high, which presumably were divided into apartments not unlike those found in American cities to-day. " Imagination is always tired by the wealth of material available for study in Pompeii, so large a part of which has been excavated. But the fact is often overlooked that Pompeii was originally a Greek colony and that the prevailing type of architecture there is Greco-Roman. In Rome itself the excavations have practically been conlined to public buildings. There is the house of Livia; but Livia s connection with the Imperial Family would indicate that her home was not a common variety of dwelling. Then there are some fragments ol old houses underneath some of 4he early Christian churches in Rome. But lor the most part the modern city securely covers any vestiges there may be of the ancient homes of the masses of the people. As a result, few real old Roman homes have been brought to light. “ There have also, of course, been excavations along the shores of the Mediterranean; but these were provincial towns where life was influenced by its special environment. ROMAN AS ROME ITSELF. “ Ostia, on the other hand, was as Roman as Romo itself. Its life was not provincial but metropolitan, and when the present mass of data and inscriptions gathered by Guido Galza, the arclneologist in charge, has been studied and digested, it may prove that many of our conceptions of Roman mo .will have to be modified. “A very rich merchant could afford to have his own home, perhaps three stories high. In the live-story a P art " meat house lived people less wealthy. In apartments the number ot rooms seems to have varied, according to the size or prosperity of the family. These structures were built with a cential court for light. , , “Writers of the period objected to hic.h buildings, the ancient zoning law limiting them to fifty or sixty feet. In the Roman structures with which we are most familiar the brick foundations were hidden underneath a coat of stucco. In Ostia the dwellings and the granaries and warehouses aie faced with brick. It is obvious that a stucco covering was not used, since the remains show designs in yellow, red, and brown. Doorways were often painted vermillion, for decorative contl“liie first floor was usually constructed with a portico, and balconies seem often to have extended out at the ‘floor level of the upper stories so that the occupants could sit at ease and watch the busy life of town and harbor. "In Rome the streets were narrow and cartage was permitted only at . nmht. Just as the pressure of popula- ' tion probably forced the houses into stories, so increasing traffic compelled Ostia to widen its streets again and a train in order that the tivo and foulwTieeled carts laden with grains, fruits, and oils could unload cargoes brought by ships into the storehouses of the ' Thus far only about a fifth of ancient Ostia has been uncovered. Guido Calza, working outward from the Forum, has not yet reached the ancient wharves; but large public and private warehouses have been found, and the House of the Guilds has long attracted attention. This is probably the most interesting find as yet made. PUBLIC BUILDINGS. This structure housed the trade asso- ; ciatioiis and the chamber of commerce of the time. There were seventy rooms, occupied not only by the representatives of the separate business interests, such as shipping, corn, oil, but also by the trade commissioners of the various coun-

tries with which Home regularly traded. “In trout of each door,” comments Professor Brewster, “is beautiful mosaic showing the seal or insignia of til© trade. Here one secs a porter carrying an amphora into the hold of a ship, there a corn measurer, or fisherman, or a measurer of grain. Incidentally, there was a remarkable development of mosaic work in Ostia which seems to be local to the town. Besides the business associations located in the House of the Guilds, there were trade associations —forerunners,. in a way, ol our labor unions. They were organised principally for special purposes. “ Behind the Blouse ol the Guilds is the theatre, which has been restored. It seated from 4.00 U to 5,000 people. Performances of Greek tragedies were given here last spring. “ What wc might call a quick lunch room is now open to view on the Via di Diana. This was a thermopolium, or ancient drinking shop, where light food was served. The front is open, A right-angle counter of marble occupies half of the doorway. Short wall seats are just off the street, and behind the counter was a room containing benches. “The rich had their water piped into the house,” said Professor Brewster. “The middle class had it piped to the court of the apartment house, where it was drawn by slaves. The very poor used the fountains in the streets. “The Homans did not evolve any very efficacious heating plants—not, at any rate, according to modern standards. The wealthy had furnaces, which heated water in their baths. Public baths were provided with a hypocaust, a sort of hollow-tile arrangement.”