Roman Imperial Nero - The Port of Ostia

Bird’s eye view of Ostia’s harbour from coins.​

A site of tremendous importance, Ostia was once [as its name, derived from the Latin word for mouth, os, suggests] the seaport of the city of Rome located at the mouth of the Tiber, through which goods could arrive from overseas into the city. As an inland city of more than one million people during the reign of Nero, Rome relied heavily upon its Tyrrhenian Sea port at Ostia. Antioch [Antakya], the great metropolis in Syria, was similarly positioned, as it was about the same distance [c. 15 miles] from its Mediterranean port at Seleucia. The construction of a port at Ostia had been considered by both Julius Caesar and Augustus, but the projected expenses were so daunting that it was not until Claudius came to power that construction began; finally, it was finished during the reign of his adoptive son Nero.