OSTIA,

fourteen miles from Rome. The ancient remains are beyond. Founded by Ancus Martius, it was the great port and arsenal of ancient Rome, with which it rose and fell. Ascending the tower of the castle in the village, an extensive view of the Latin coast and the surrounding ancient forests may be had. Several rooms in the castle have been turned into a museum of fragments found in the excavations. The castle was built by Julius II., 1503–13; and besides this there is nothing of interest in the miserable village. The Street of Tombs leads to the ancient city. The principal objects of interest are the Porta Romana and Guardhouse, houses in the city, tombs and columbaria, Temple of Cybele, the Temple of Vulcan, street with portico and warehouses, the Horrea with the Dolia, the Imperial Palace, baths containing many beautiful specimens of mosaic pavement, Temple of Mithras, in which the altar is still standing, the Arsenal, &c.

SKETCH PLAN OF THE EXCAVATIONS AT OSTIA.
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The recent excavations were commenced at Ostia at the close of 1870 upon a system more in accordance with the requirements of archæological science and the tendencies of topographical discoveries than had up to that time been practised. All idea of speculating—as had been until then the chief aim of the popes—in the statues and precious objects that might be found, was renounced, and instead it was proposed to uncover, by steady and continued effort, the ruins of the buried edifices; especial attention was bestowed upon those along the banks of the Tiber, as they had played an important part in the career of the city. The earth was first removed round the large edifice known as the "Imperial Palace," bordering on the Tiber; its principal entry, upon the bank of the river, although decorated with a more elegant front, constituted only a common doorway. Three spots, which bore the aspect of stairs leading down to the river, have been excavated: firstly, upon the line from the Temple of Vulcan to the river; secondly, at a basin to the right side of this line; thirdly, at the other extremity of the basin, adjoining the Imperial Palace. At the first point was found the street which terminated at the banks of the river with a flight of steps. Upon removing the soil, a street was discovered paved with immense flagstones, fifteen yards wide, including the porticoes that flanked it on both sides. The porticoes are six yards wide, and are built with pillars of arched brick, decorated at the lower extremity with bas-reliefs, and at the upper with cornices of terra-cotta, lace design. In their interior are large compartments for warehouses, with a depth of six yards below the level of the pavement. This street leading from the river to the Temple of Vulcan is one hundred and fifty yards long. The lateral walls subsist up to the height of seven yards, and the rooms of the porticoes still preserve their ceilings, the pavement of the first floor being mosaic. Another street, parallel to the above, was struck at the second point, also running from the river, and paved with large flagstones; it has a width of five yards, and on each side large warehouses. On the left side are a series of pillars adorned with cornices, having a height of seven yards, and a lateral width of two yards. As the street advances into the city, along the entire course are shops and warehouses, conveying the grandest idea of the life, activity, and commercial traffic that must have prevailed in the city. At the third spot were found the traces of a large stairway, leading to a terrace reared above the level of the river. To this stairway two streets lead, the first six yards wide, and proceeding from the interior of the city; the second, ten yards, running parallel to the Tiber, each side being occupied with warehouses. These are the three main streets lately thoroughly uncovered and examined, and which, while affording an accurate plan to modern eyes of the time-honoured city, unite, with its other ruins, tombs, and mosaic pavements, to make Ostia one of the wonders of the day.

CASTEL FUSANO

is a seat of Prince Chigi, two miles to the left of modern Ostia, just inside the pine-forest. There is nothing further to see. There is a pleasant ramble of about two miles down to the sea.

N.B.—Permission must be obtained of the prince, before leaving Rome, to enter the woods.

Seven miles beyond Castel Fusano is Tor Paterno, the site of the younger