Between the ruins of ancient Ostia we still find many beautiful mosaics. In a previous post I already discussed the mosaics in the mithraeum of Felicissimus, which are not just impressive, but also provide us with a lot of information about the mystery cult of Mithras. Ostia’s many complexes of…
Unfortunately no precise figures are available for the population of ancient Ostia. Perhaps the city had just over 20,000 inhabitants, perhaps some 50-60,000. However, we do know one thing for certain: the people of Ostia had ample opportunity to take a bath. Public baths were omnipresent in Ostia, and these…
The mystery cult of Mithras must have been very popular in Ostia. The city had at least 17 mithraea or places of worship.[1] It should, however, be noted that these mithraea were not that large: they could perhaps accommodate twenty to thirty people each. Twenty to thirty men actually, as…
In about 56 CE, Saint Paul the Apostle wrote his famous Epistle to the Romans. At the time he was probably in Corinth. In the letter, he told his readers that he had plans to travel to Spain and that he wanted to visit Rome on the way, as he…
I get the impression that very few people bother to visit the remains of Ancient Ostia’s synagogue. These are located some 300 metres outside the Porta Marina, the gate that faced the sea in Antiquity. The location feels rather isolated, and the situation was probably not very different some 2.000…
The Duomo of Palestrina is dedicated to Sant’Agapito or Saint Agapitus, a teenage martyr from the third century. Virtually nothing is known about his life, apart from the fact that he was apparently a native of Palestrina, then called Praeneste. The Duomo is located just west of the Piazza Regina…
I will readily admit that the famous Nile Mosaic was the reason I took the bus to Palestrina in the first place. This gorgeous piece of art, presumably from the late second century BCE, is the most prized possession of Palestrina’s National Archaeological Museum. The mosaic has a room of…
After Sulla had established a military colony at Praeneste after 82 BCE, the town enjoyed several centuries of peace. It prospered and grew and quickly became a popular destination for Romans during the summer to escape the scorching heat of Rome itself. I myself visited Palestrina on a very hot…
Getting from Rome to Palestrina by public transportation is pretty easy. You just have to know how. I travelled to the Ponte Mammolo metro station in the north of Rome and took a COTRAL bus to Palestrina from there. It should also be possible to make use of a similar…