Mosaic still in-situ in the ancient town of Ostia near Rome.
It shows a docker carrying an amphora from a sea-going merchant ship (on the right) to a river boat (on the left), for transport further upstream.
Another view (archived, so may be slow to load).

Dive into the sights and sounds, noises and smells of the largest city on earth. Jostle on the crowded streets with rich and poor, workers and beggars, patrons and clients alike. Welcome to Rome!
Digital Activities
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WebBooks
The Stories
Practising the Language
Cultural Background
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Maps of Rome
MAPS OF ROME
Great reconstruction drawing of the hills and the marshy valleys around the Tiber. This unpromising site grew to be the largest city of the ancient world - Rome! (Archived image so have patience if it is slow to load.)
Here's a labelled version...
This clear and simple topographical map of Rome labels the canonical "seven hills": the Capitoline, Palatine, Aventine, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline and the Caelian.
Line-drawing map naming more of the hills, as well as indicating the position of the Forum, and other features.
Good, simple map showing hills, walls and the a few of the principal buildings.
Interactive map highlights the position of many sites by means of a drop-down menu with a list of buildings and streets; no photos or descriptions.
Map links to lots of good photos; no descriptions. This map usefully colours buildings by their functions, as well as naming the buildings when you pause your mouse over them. Click to link to many photos of the location and a recreated model. Use the zoom function to enlarge the images.
Map links to photos and ground-plans of buildings and descriptions. Nearly 20 targets to click, although when you pause your mouse over target there are no flags to let you know which building or location you're linking to.
Locates the main ancient, renaissance and modern sights of Rome.
Interactive map linking to descriptions of the buildings and their photos taken from a model of ancient Rome.
Maps of the Roman Empire
MAPS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Beautifully drawn, relief map of the general area of the Roman world. Terrific!
Animated map showing expansion from small city in 510BC through the Republic (red) and the Empire (purple), to its division into Western and Eastern Empires in 405 AD and finally to the Byzantine Empire that "the last Roman" Justinian inherited c. 530AD.
This map is super for showing the temporary conquest of Germania before the disasterous defeat in 9 AD of Varus in the Teutoburg Forest.
Simple map showing the boundaries at the time of Augustus' death in 14 AD and then again at Trajans's death in 117 AD.
Under Trajan the Roman Empire at its greatest extent: this is a clear, labelled map detailing the various provinces.
The provinces at the time of the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Very useful map showing both Eastern and Western Roman Empires in relation to modern countries: check your knowledge of modern countries with this map.
The Western Empire became a series of "barbaric" kingdoms (the prescursors of today's modern countries) while the Eastern Empire - in yellow on the map - continued as the Byzantine Empire.
City of Rome
CITY OF ROME
Super cgi-reconstruction of the hills of Rome.
Simple and clear map.
After a rather confusing map comes information about each of the main hills of Rome.
Aerial photo of modern Rome. The ancient forum is highlighted in yellow; the Colosseum is easily identifiable, as is the Circus Maximus towards the bottom.
Wonderful and rather famous model of ancient Rome in the Museum of of Roman Civilization, Rome.
Although this famous statue of the she-wolf is, in fact, not ancient but medieval (dating probably to the 1200's), Roman sources do tell us that there was a statue of a she-wolf suckling the babies Romulus and Remus and that it was set up in the Lupercal cave on the Palatine in 295 BC.
Roman coin, dating to c. 275-260 BC. On it are depicted the founding twins of Rome: Romulus and Remus. According to legend the infants were suckled by a wolf. The design may have been inspired by a statue in Rome (see above link) that we know from historical sources was set up in 296 BC, shortly before this coin was made.
Silver denarius coin in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
Report on the recent discovery of a cave on the Palatine hill. Could this have been the Lupercal - the cave of the she-wolf?
An account of Rome's early kings, starting with Romulus.
A must see! How today's sites looked in Roman times: click a photo to enlarge it and then click again for a virtual reconstruction.
Read the Roman poet Juvenal's scathing letter (Satire 3) in which he complains bitterly about Rome, its noise, squalor and people.
A poorly translated, yet interesting, description of the Esquiline Hill, past and present.
See also our special sections on:
OTHER AREAS & BUILDINGS - including the Campus Martius, the Forum of Julius Caesar, the Forum of Augustus and the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline.
...and also see the sections below:
The Tiber and Rome's Docks
THE TIBER
& ROME'S DOCKS
What? When? Where? The facts on this famous river.
Gigantic Roman statue, originally from the Baths of Constantine (ruins of 1575 & location) (or the nearby Temple of Serapis) on the Quirinal Hill in Rome, and now outside the Palazzo Senatorio on the Capitoline Hill.
Tiber rests his arm upon the she-wolf, cuddled by the babies Romulus and Remus - the legendary founders of Rome.
Brief description of Tiber Island.
Pictures and historical detail on ten of Rome's ancient bridges.
Illustrated webpage about the docks and neighbouring markets (emporia of Rome.
One of the wharves (as featured on p.50 of CLC Bk.IV) at the port of ancient Rome.
ROMAN BOATS & SHIPS
Click for boat-loads of information and images on both cargo and military vessels.
The Subura District
THE SUBURA DISTRICT
Map locating this once densely-populated, lowly area.
The modern name of the district, Rione dei Monti (Region of the Hills), recalls its 3 hills: the Esquiline, the Viminal and the Quirinal. The ancient Subura district lay also within it.
Interesting article about the Subura today.
Trajan's Market
TRAJAN'S MARKET
Reconstruction drawing of this complex and fantastically well-preserved site in Rome.
Good quality images of the semi-circular facade of the market.
Brief description and photos of interior.
Rome's Aqueducts
ROME'S AQUEDUCTS & SEWERS
The Pont-du-Gard in southern France is the most famous example of a Roman aqueduct. The actual aqueduct (water chanel) is only the topmost part of the structure which is being carried over the river Gardon on the tremendous arches.
More Wiki info.
Easy-to-read account of the history of Rome's aqueducts; the page on their construction is particularly well-illustrated.
Excellent couple of webpages from Nova (PBS TV series) about Rome's water supply. Where did the water come from? Was the water drinkable? Did lead in the water cause the Roman Empire to collapse? Find out here.
Terrific, well-illustrated website on the design and construction of Roman aqueducts.
There's much more to aqueducts than just the massive arches you often see striding across the countryside. They also consist of trenches, tunnels, walls and pipes. Read this manual on how to build an aqueduct and then play the following game...
Go on! Build an Aqueduct! It's not as easy as you may think...
Artist's impression of the construction of the Aqua Claudia which strides over the older Aqua Marcia, both aqueducts taking water to Rome.
Completed by the Emperor Claudius in 52 AD , the remains of the Aqua Claudia (i.e. "Claudius' Water") is here seen from the air as it approaches Rome.
Here it is at ground-level.
Model of the Aqua Claudia aqueduct striding through Rome past the Colosseum.
Rome's Sewers
Cutaway view of a typical Roman street during the Roman Empire, showing lead water pipes and a central channel for sewage under the pavement. Perpendicular connections brought sewage from nearby homes and businesses.
Brief description of Rome's great sewer, illustrated with maps, drawings and photos. And here's a plan of the sewer's winding course from the centre of Rome, through the forums and the to the Tiber just of the bottom of the plan.
A little bit more info. (Archived site, please be patient if it is slow to load.)
Photo of where the drain empties into the River Tiber.
Roman drain cover, now housed in the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, in Rome. It famously appears in the classic 1953 film 'Roman Holiday', starring Audrey Hepburn & Gregory Peck, from which here's a still image.
Artist's rendition of a public toilet near the Theater of Pompey in Rome, that may have seated as many as 100. The open water channel in front of the toilets was used to wash "cleaning" sponges tied to the end of a stick. The water basins were probably used for general washing.
Patronage
PATRONAGE
The section on the "salutatio" where men regularly visited their higher-status patrons is especially relevant. It follows an analysis of the Roman workday based on one of Martial's epigrams.
Patronage: "a combination of an old boys' network, the Sicilian mafia, and feudalism". Good description and analysis.
Scroll down after reading about the city of Rome to the section on Patrons and Clients.
Excellent article about the different social classes in Roman society (in both Late Republic and Empire) and, towards the bottom of the page, patronage. (Archived page, please be patient if it takes a while to load.)
Marble relief sculptures (known as the Plutei of Trajan) from an unknown monument in the Roman Forum. One relief depicts Trajan's alimentary scheme.