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Ostia Antica in Città metropolitana di Roma Capitale, Latium, Rome, Italy — Central Italy (Tyrrhenian Coast)
 

Piazzale delle Corporazioni

L'area del teatro e il centro delle corporazioni commerciali

⎯⎯⎯
Square of the Corporations

Theatre and trading corporations HQ

(Reg. II, Is. VII. 4)

 
 
Piazzale delle Corporazioni / Square of the Corporations Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, August 5, 2025
1. Piazzale delle Corporazioni / Square of the Corporations Marker
Inscription. Il vasto piazzale, aperto verso il Tevere, fu progettato insieme al teatro in età augustea, ma solo all'epoca di Claudio (metà I secolo dC) fu dotato di portici. Verso la fine dell secolo d.C. al centro del piazzale fu eretto un tempio su alto podio, con due colonne corinzie sulla fronte, dedicato a una divinità di incerta identificazione. Una nuova trasformazione si ebbe nella prima metà del II secolo d.C.. epoca a cui risalgono il raddoppiamento del portico e la realizzazione dei primi mosaici pavimentali, oggetto di successivi rifacimenti anche in concomitanza con la suddivisione dello spazio interno in più ambienti (stationes). I motivi rappresentati erano collegati ad attività commerciali: la presenza di iscrizioni che richiamano le corporazioni di commercianti, armatori e imprenditori sia ostiensi che straniere avvalora l'ipotesi che si trattasse di spazi di rappresentanza per le stesse corporazioni.

The vast square open towards the Tiber was designed together with the theatre in the Augustan period but was equipped with porticoes only during the time of Claudius (mid-1st century AD). Towards the end of the 1st
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century AD, a temple on a high podium with two Corinthian columns at the front was built at the centre of the square: it was dedicated to a god of uncertain identity. Another transformation took place in the first half of the 2nd century AD, when the portico was doubled and the earliest floor mosaics were laid: the latter were later remade when the internal space was subdivided into different rooms. The motifs depicted were linked to commercial activities: the presence of inscriptions mentioning corporations of traders, ship-owners and entrepreneurs from both Ostia and elsewhere support the theory that these were the headquarters of the corporations themselves.

 
Erected by Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Anthropology & ArchaeologyArts, Letters, MusicIndustry & CommerceReligion & Religious Structures.
 
Location. 41° 45.37′ N, 12° 17.495′ E. Marker is in Ostia Antica, Lazio (Latium, Rome), in Città metropolitana di Roma Capitale. It is on Viale degli Scavi. The marker is in
Piazzale delle Corporazioni / Square of the Corporations Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, August 5, 2025
2. Piazzale delle Corporazioni / Square of the Corporations Marker
The temple ruins referenced on this sign can be seen in the background.
Ostia Antica Archaeological Park, in the sqaure just north of the theater. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Ostia Antica, Lazio 00119, Italy. Touch for directions.

Regionally, it is in Europe, the European Union, the Schengen Area, a coastal Mediterranean country, and the Western World. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Roman Empire.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Theatre of Ostia (a few steps from this marker); Gli Interventi di Restauro e Rifunzionalizzazione del Teatro Romano di Ostia (a few steps from this marker); L'Area del Teatro e il Centro Delle Corporazioni Commerciali (within shouting distance of this marker); The Martyrs of Ostia Tiberina (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Piazzale delle Corporazioni / Square of the Corporations (within shouting distance of this marker); Ninfei Ai Lati del Teatro e c.d. Oratorio Cristiano / Nymphaeums and the Christian Oratorio (within shouting distance of this marker); In Memoriam Sanctae Monnicae / In Memory of Saint Monica (within shouting distance
Piazzale delle Corporazioni image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, August 5, 2025
3. Piazzale delle Corporazioni
The marker is near the theater in the far background.
of this marker); Horrea di Ortensio e Horrea dell'Artemide / The Warehouses of Hortensius and Artemis (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Ostia Antica.
 
More about this marker. Two identical signs can be found along the walkway through this piazza.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on August 10, 2025. It was originally submitted on August 10, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 67 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3. submitted on August 10, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.
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Aug. 8, 2026