Francesca: Rome imported most of what it consumed. These big jars contained oil, wine, and grain that came from all over the Mediterranean and was stored here, and then shipped off to Rome. This is the mill. Ostia was famous for the quality of its bread. They would put sticks through these holes and then a donkey or human would push them around.
Rick: OK, so you'd pour it, you'd pour the grain in here, grind it up…
Francesca: Yes…
Rick: …flour comes out the bottom!
Francesca: Yes.
Rick: That's stone ground, I'd say.
Francesca: Is a bit, really.
Rick: I love to imagine how people must have lived here.
Francesca: Yes, in apartments that can be easily up to five stories high. They had no kitchens, no plumbing, and no heating, so they used these apartments like tents at a camping site just to sleep.
Rick: No kitchens?
Francesca: No kitchens. So even to eat they would have to go to a fast food or a cafeteria. Most of the time it was just across the street.
Rick: So, you'd just step across the street to the corner diner?
Francesca: Yes.
Rick: Two thousand years ago this was the neighborhood bar.
Francesca: Yes, like a cafeteria or a fast-food place.
Rick: Amazing.
Francesca: You would come up to the counter and maybe order something to go. Maybe you might see some food or some drinks on display here, or if you had time you would come inside, and you could have something sitting down. And here probably they had a display of the food, or maybe the cups and the plates. And then there is a pictorial menu that shows us what was offered. So we have food, we have drinks, and we have music.
Rick: So, music, like, "Tuesday night, we got live music." Out in the courtyard.
Francesca: Yes, why not! As you can see, public restrooms are really public. And quite advanced; they had running water coming through.
Rick: So, there's a stream going all the time, constantly flushing.
Francesca: Yes, constantly flushing, so constantly clean. Imagine frescoes on the walls, and even revolving doors at the entrance.
Rick: It's so easy to underestimate how advanced Rome was.
