Saturday 1 May
10 AM BST
11 AM CEST
7 PM AEST
9 PM NZST
With Dr. Eireann Marshall
As the port of Rome, Ostia was the nexus of trade for the Roman empire as a whole. The enormous warehouses held grain, olive-oil and goods which were transported to Rome via the Tiber. The scale of the materials transported to Rome required an army of workers, not only to move the goods but to record the imports. From the so-called Piazzale delle Corporazioni, we know that Ostia was a place in which traders from all over the empire met in order strike deals.
It is here that merchants from as far afield as Sabratha, Carthage, Cagliari and Gaul held offices in order to ensure their goods were transported. Working in tandem with the important port of Puteoli and with Portus, Ostia made sure that Rome was kept alive.
