Back to menuHow to get started - general studies about Ostia
Everyone who begins to study Ostia should read two books: Meiggs' Roman Ostia and Pavolini's Ostia. The former book is a much praised synthetic study of the city, from a primarily historical point of view. The first edition appeared in 1960. A second, updated edition followed in 1973. Pavolini's book was published ten years later. It is an archaeological guide (in Italian), that contains excellent short descriptions of the majority of the buildings, and reproductions of the main plan of the city on a reduced scale.
Recent research is summarized by Chevallier in his article 'Dix années de travaux récents sur Ostie antique' (Latomus 1994).
The complete titles of these studies can be found in the Bibliography sorted by author.
See also the keyword "General accounts".