Ostia is the first colony and the main harbour of Rome, approximately 30 km west of the capital of the Roman Empire.
Ostia was an antique ‘metropolis’ with four- and five-storey high multiple dwellings and more than 40.000 inhabitants.
Due to the large-scale excavations that were carried out until 1942, Ostia is the largest world-wide excavation site of an antique city.
Since 2010, our excavation- and survey-projects have been focused on the political and administrative centre of Ostia, the so-called Monumental Centre and the Forum.
Prior to our field-work activities, Late Antiquity (4th century – 7th century AD) in Ostia remained largely unknown.
In 2016, remains of earlier activities below the rooms TFR were discovered. This led to the discovery of a Republican sanctuary, which has been the focus since. Excavations were carried out in 2016-2019 and again in 2023. This discovery will alter the perception of the earliest development of the Castrum as well as the Forum of Ostia.
For more details, you are very welcome to check out our website with actual information about excavations and ongoing research-activities!
On the website there will be some bibliographical references and mentioning of researchers – these references and researchers can be found under Project Related Bibliography.