We slept in, and made our way lazily over to Ostia Antica in the afternoon after some suboptimal public transit. Ostia Antica was at the mouth of the Tiber river in ancient times; since then, the river has changed course, the shoreline has moved farther seaward, and the major port for Rome has moved. It was abandoned for these reasons, and because of Malaria. The site itself was a lot bigger than Herculaneum (the excavated part) or Paestum, and a little smaller than Pompeii. Unfortunately, the best stuff (columns, marble, statues) have been largely carted off to other locations as far away as Istanbul. After all, this city didn't get buried by a volcano!
The site itself was nice, though if felt a great deal like a poorly preserved version of what we've already seen. I don't know that we can recommend a trip out here unless you don't have time to go to Pompeii, or are looking for a quiet place away from the crowds of Rome. It's never busy, and with good reason. There is an awesome theater next door to a business district. There are also a few baths to explore. The whole site is brick. Before this trip, we didn't realize that the Romans used a lot of brick and concrete. I guess we assumed that they used stone exclusively. Heck, they even plaster brick columns to make them look like marble.
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