Ostia was first and foremost a harbour city, a thriving commercial town serving the needs of Rome, as all the Rome's imports were arriving at the port of Ostia from all the country around the Mediterranean sea.

The ruins of Ostia like the one ones of Pompeii are telling us about the every day life of the ancient Romans.

Walking through the ruins you will see not only remains of public building such as temples, theatre, store-buildings, (horrea) public bath, but what is more interesting and which is characterizing Ostia is the architesture of the "insulae" or flats, where the lower class people lived, the buildings were four storeys high and they were looking very much the same the apartments houses of today.