When in Rome! Day 5

Today we went to Ostia Antica--old Roman ruins of a port city dating back to the mid-4th century BC! It was a fortified settlement at the mouth of the Tiber river and was the first Roman colony. It had 50,000 inhabitants at the height of it's expansion around the 2nd Century AD. It's unbelievable that things are still intact, like mosaics and partial statues and Corinthian columns!! You could see frescoes and inscriptions in many places, as well! We saw burial grounds, a temple, a public bath house, a large outdoor theater, shops, taverns, public restrooms and a bakery! This port city supplied wheat and food to send to Rome. It was fun to poke around all of these ruins and wonder how daily life was so long ago! Many buildings even had the 2nd floor still intact. (You could have up to 5 floors by decree of Nero.) The Romans knew how to build things, for sure! It was a fun day!