Day Trips from Rome - Rome - page 597

Behind the amphitheatre is the Piazzale delle Corporazioni (Forum of the Corporations), the
offices of Ostia's merchant guilds, which sport well-preserved mosaics depicting the dif-
ferent interests of each business. The pictures represent dolphins, ships, the lighthouse at
Portus (the older nearby settlement) and the grain trade, and the symbols here indicate just
how inter- national the nature of business in Ostia was. Both Latin and Greek graffiti has
been discovered on the walls of the city.
The Forum , the main square of Ostia, is dominated by the huge Capitolium. Built by
Hadrian, this was a temple dedicated to the main Roman deities, the Capitoline triad
(Jupiter, Juno and Minerva).
Nearby is another of the site's highlights: the Thermopolium , an ancient cafe. Check out
the bar counter, surmounted by a frescoed menu, the kitchen and the small courtyard,
where customers would have sat next to the fountain and relaxed with a drink.

CASTELLO DI GIULIO II
( 06 5635 8044; Piazza della Rocca; free guided tours 11am Thu, 11am & noon Sun) Near the entrance
to the excavations is this imposing castle, an impressive example of 15th-century military
architecture, which lost its purpose when a freak flood changed the course of the river,
making the location less accessible.

CASTLE