As Rome Goes: The Ostia Virtual Museum

Roman art and architecture is beautiful, even if most of it is now crumbling.  But since many people haven't had the chance to visit Italy's historical sites (I've only ever been to Rome's airport), we have to rely on images of the these ancient splendors.  That's the function of the Ostia Virtual Museum, which is dedicated to displaying ruins and unearthed artifacts from this port within the Roman empire.

The breadth of objects you can view at this museum is impressive - the images are organized by medium, so you can view things made of glass, metal, terra cotta, bone and marble, as well as mosaics, stucco reliefs, fading paintings and what's left of ancient buildings.  The images are of varying quality (only some are in color, and most were taken pre-digital camera) but almost every piece has been photographed at various angles, so you can still get a good sense of what each looks like.

The text accompanying the images is better than many other virtual museums I've encountered, but not perfect.  In many cases detailed information is provided about where the object was found and what is depicted, and where there are black-and-white photographs some effort is made to describe the true colors.  It would be nice to know about how old everything is (if ages are indeed known), but more importantly I would like to know just how each piece fits into the Rome's story and culture.

This, I think, is the biggest flaw in the museum:  there is not enough historical context.  From just browsing the museum's website, I got the impression that Ostia was a coastal city somewhere in Italy.  It took a visit to Wikipedia to learn that Ostia is in fact a part of the city of Rome, and was a popular place for Romans to vacation in the summer.  This is information that should be readily available throughout the museum, along with explanations of why the art and architecture mattered in that time.  If you were unfamiliar with Roman mythology, for example, a lot of the art might seem confusing, and the museum provides no way to help understand the depictions and symbolism.

I don't want this criticism to detract from the greatness of this museum, because it's definitely worth a look if you're at all interested in seeing how the ancients lived.  If you like Rome, old things, or seeing well-known myths illustrated, there's plenty to view here.  For a novice, though, this museum could seem stuffy and intimidating.  A little more information here could go a long way.


The Ostia Virtual Museum
Website:  www.ostia-antica.org/vmuseum/vmuseum.htm