A few kilometers from Rome lie the ruins of the ancient city of Ostia, which by its historical importance and preservation is not inferior to Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Wandering around the ruins today, you can see the remains of the docks, warehouses, apartment flats, mansions, shopping arcades, and baths - all giving a peek at Roman lifestyles.
Ostia, at the mouth (ostium) of the Tiber River, was founded around 620 BC; its central attraction was the salt gleaned from nearby salt flats, which served as a precious meat preserver. Later, around 400 BC, Rome conquered Ostia and made it a naval base, complete with a fort. By AD 150, when Rome controlled all the Mediterranean, Ostia served as its busy commercial port.
Ostia Antica is preserved because of the sand and mud from the Tiber that covered the port after it had been abandoned when Rome fell in the 5th century AD.