ABSTRACT
Location: Ostia Antica, or Roman Ostia, used to lie at the mouth of the Tiber (the town's name was derived from the Latin word ostium meaning"mouth"), on the west coast of Italy, and is some fifteen miles southwest of Rome. The old Roman road, the Via Ostiensis, used to be the major artery connecting the two. A little to the north of Ostia stands the site of Portus, which was linked to Rome by the Via Portuensis. Since the shore has advanced more than two miles since Roman times, the modern Ostia Marina and Lido di Ostia are to be found on the coast, the Lido now a popular resort close to Rome, often called the Lido di Roma.
