Without question, the film/TV show The Chosen has had an impact, and a growing audience far beyond all expectations or even the hopes of Dallas Jenkins, the son of Jerry Jenkins (remember the Left Behind series?) the film producer. Could a series filmed in Texas about Jesus, really help us probe the age old question of who Jesus was and is, in a responsible, helpful, and interesting way. The surprising answer is yes indeed. But I have a question— the... Read more
As promised earlier there were major homes that belonged to those who owned or sailed ships, and traded all over the then known world. Interestingly, they had mosaics done in their houses, and shops displaying these things. There was more than one ship owner in this town… But other successful businessmen wanted in on the mosaic floor trend, and so we have bakers, and others displaying their work in their floors… Read more
The Romans not only loved the theater, they loved chariot races, and the blood sport they invented, gladiatorial combat, which was no part of the ancient Greek games. Not surprising then that we have motifs from both the games and theaters in the baths. And yes this town was large enough to have a major piazza, or town square…. with a theater in it…. Like all cities there had to be sources of freshwater, not least for all those... Read more
While our vision of temples may be of big buildings, there were in fact small temples in various places in the ancient cities including in Ostia. These temples were built for gods believed to protect sailors and sailing. And adjacent to these buildings were collegiale, or association buildings for those who were guilds of workers who built and maintained these buildings, as well the business buildings nearby— so carpenters, stone masons, pipe fitters, plumbers and more. Some of the... Read more
In downtown Ostia there was a huge laundry enterprise, taking up a whole city block. Do you want to keep those togas looking bright white? Urine luck. Yes it was soaked in urine used as a bleach. And there would be a pee bucket outside the shop so men could liquidate their assets for a good cause. But there was also a huge bakery in the downtown as well. There were tabernas and cauponas as well, for those who... Read more
The wealthy could live anywhere they chose to live. So it is somewhat surprising that many of them wanted to live in crowded, smelly downtown Ostia. The other surprising thing is that the two largest houses in downtown Ostia were owned and run by wealthy women. Notice the indoor toilet in the house of Diana, and oh yes, the sliding glass doors on the front of the first floor shop in this building. They were not far... Read more
Even the dead wanted to be noticed, and the living wanted to set up honorific columns to themselves, or to the Emperor or both…. and so they would put these things along the major roads, or in a town the major streets such as the Decumanus Maximus…. This interesting inscription is from a much later period, honoring a Christian who was martyred here in Ostia, one deacon named Archelaus, who achieved the crown of martyrdom. By contrast to the... Read more
One doesn’t have to go far down this main street to find a thermal bath. Being so near the sea, this was undoubtedly a very humid town especially in summer, and so a place where the elites especially were looking for shade, and places to bath. Not surprisingly, on the floor of the bath were images from the sea, among other familiar motifs (notice the various means of transportation emphasized, so important to a port city. There were various shrines... Read more
By the time the NT was beginning to be written, Ostia had become a crucial port city (not just a port), which included many wealthy people’s houses, mostly people who had become rich from the sea trade, and we will see the floor of a major house which makes clear the house belongs to a ship’s captain, or owner. This city was not just a place where goods were stored or transported elsewhere, because of it’s location near the mouth... Read more
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