Ostia Antica: An Audio Guide with Context

(10 reviews)

Rome audio tour: Ostia Antica: An Audio Guide with Context

This is a 2mi walking tour

It takes an average of 90 mins to complete.

Rome

Italy

$19.99

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About the Tour

Ostia Antica was once Rome’s bustling port city. Twice the size of Pompeii, it evolved over the centuries from a military garrison, to a naval base, a commercial hub and, finally, a seaside retreat for wealthy Romans.

On this walking tour with archaeologist and Context Travel expert Livia Galante, you’ll wander the ruins where she’s worked for many years. This complex landscape served as the backdrop for the Roman Empire’s changing fortunes. As you walk along ancient streets still marked by cart wheels, you’ll discover how ordinary Romans lived, worked, bathed, dined, and worshipped in this once-thriving metropolis.

The tour starts outside the Biglietteria del Parco Archeologico di Ostia Antica (the ticket office). From there, you’ll walk through residential neighborhoods with multi-story apartment buildings, past bustling shopping districts, and into grand public spaces that showcase the sophistication of Roman urban planning. Throughout the tour, Livia shares insights about archaeological techniques and challenges, including how Mussolini’s hasty 1938-1942 excavations both revealed and compromised parts of this extraordinary site.

On this Ostia Antica tour, you’ll have a chance to:

Learn about ancient burial practices at the Necropoli della via Ostiense, the necropolis where cremation urns and sarcophagi reveal changing Roman funeral customs
Marvel at the Neptune Baths with their stunning black-and-white floor mosaics depicting sea creatures and mythological scenes
Visit the remarkably intact Teatro di Ostia, an ancient theater that could seat 3,000 spectators and is occasionally still used for performances today
Discover the Portico of the Corporations, where 64 offices represented trading guilds from across the empire, their mosaic floors advertising their specialties
Step inside a completely preserved Thermopolium (Roman restaurant) with its original counter, wine storage jars, and even a menu painted on the wall
Explore Insulae (multi-story apartment buildings) where shopkeepers lived above their businesses, a set-up that’s surprisingly similar to modern cities

This easy two-hour tour of Ostia offers visitors a more authentic glimpse into everyday Roman life than many other famous sites. With fewer crowds and more complete neighborhoods, you’ll gain a deep understanding of the urban fabric that once connected this cosmopolitan port to the far reaches of the empire.

Tour Producer

Context Travel

92 tours

Context was founded in Rome in 2003 by Paul Bennett and Lani Bevacqua an expat couple eager to curate experiences for travelers, not tourists. Since then Context has taken over 200,000 people to 60+ destinations around the world – accompanied by thousands of leading experts. What started as a dream to create cross-cultural connections is now a worldwide network and community of thoughtful, engaged travelers and experts.

Join a live private or small group tour in destinations around the world at contexttravel.com.

Preview Location

Location 14

Ostia's Roman Theatre

Once you reach the walls in front of you, keep walking until you are in front of the theater. Stop when you have a good view.

It is important to underline that the Romans were quite specialized in terms of places where spectacles went on: they had the theaters for plays, c... Once you reach the walls in front of you, keep walking until you are in front of the theater. Stop when you have a good view.

It is important to underline that the Romans were quite specialized in terms of places where spectacles went on: they had the theaters for plays, circuses for horse and chariot races, amphitheaters like the Colosseum for violent games involving animal hunting and men fighting.

Ostia, like all ancient Roman cities, had a thriving cultural scene, which you'll notice by the presence of theaters like this one where plays such as tragedy, comedies and pantomimes (a sort of ballet) were performed. This theater was open-air and could house up to 3,000 spectators!

The spectacles were often organised and prepared for the people by the politicians, especially on religious occasions. Sometimes spectators were offered money to applaud. Why? Because Roman patrons of the arts, such as the ambitious politicians who organized the plays, would try every trick in the book to ensure their plays succeeded. Nowadays, going to see a play means high culture and good taste but defining a character as a stereotype is a criticism, yet back in Roman times, it was a good thing. It makes things clear and easy to understand on the stage, the characters being well identifiable as an old man or smiling fool. In Rome, especially in the late Republican times, the theatrical events involved rude jokes or actors behaving like monkeys who’ve eaten too much sugar and then raided in the fancy dress box. This is PARTLY because of the size of most of the playhouses in the city. With an audience of thousands, there would be no point doing anything subtle, tasteful and sophisticated. The people at the back would fall asleep.

Now we usually watch a play in respectful silence. Ancient Rome was quite different. The audience screams, boos, and hisses: instead of writing reviews critics keep up a running commentary during the show. Sometimes riots can break out as people debate the merits of the actors.

In ancient theatres, actors wore masks. If BRAD PITT or Johnny DEPP were around in Roman times, they’d have to wear masks! Yet, as in most places for entertainment, the seating depended on the social status of the participants. The wealthier you were, the closer to the stage you were allowed to sit, similar to today!

At the beginning of the III C CE, the lower part of the theater was closed with slabs of marble to transform the area at the bottom of the stage (orchestra) into a small pool where water shows took place. To give you an idea, these performances could be the ancestors of our synchronized swimming shows like the old movies with Ester Williams. In 2014, after a storm, the area was flooded giving us a good idea of how the area would have looked like back then! Every summer, the wooden stage is replaced and even today spectacles take place in this extraordinary setting from 2,000 years ago!

Now, with the theater behind you, observe the space in front of you.

The theater faced onto a large space surrounded, on the four sides, by porticoes and, a temple in the center, probably dedicated to Ceres, goddess of the harvest or Fortuna, who protected the trades.

Now, with the theater behind you, go to the right until you reach a modern walkway flanking the mosaics. Once there, turn left. Read More

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Major Landmarks

Ostia Antica
Biglietteria del Parco Archeologico di Ostia Antica
Necropoli della Via Ostiense
Tomba degli Archetti
Porta Romana
Piazzale della Vittoria
Portico di Nettuno
Teatro di Ostia
Fullonica di via degli Augustali
Domus della Fortuna Annonaria
Caseggiato dei Molini
Café degli Scavi - Ostia Antica
Piazza del Campidoglio
Latrina publica

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
Viale dei Romagnoli, 717, 00119 Roma RM, Italy
Total distance

3km
Final location
Viale degli Scavi, 00119 Roma RM, Italy
Distance back to start location

664.14m

Directions to Starting Point

The tour begins in front of the ticket office for the Ostia Antica Archaeological Park.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

At the end of the walk you might explore the Castello of Julius II and lunch at the restaurant Il Monumento located in Piazza Umberto I#8 just 5 minute away from the archaeological area

Best time of day

Opening Hours:
8.30AM – 4.30PM (25th October - 28th (or 29th) February, last entrance at 3.30PM);
8.30AM – 5.15PM (1st March - 31st March, last entrance at 4.15PM);
8.30AM – 7.00PM (1st April – 30th September, last entrance at 6.00PM);
8.30AM - 6.30PM (1st October - 24th October, last entrance at 5.30PM).
The Ticket desk closes one hour before the Park closing time.
Open from Tuesday to Sunday
The Museum is always closed on the first Sunday of the month and on other free admission days scheduled by the MiC (to date 25 April, 2 June and 4 November).
From mid November to mid March the mosaics are covered

Precautions

Please bring a pair of headphones and your water bottle.
The route within the archaeological area may appear bumpy. Comfortable clothing and shoes are therefore recommended.
In the summer , it would be useful to bring a hat and sunscreen

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