Sometime around 9 am at the Rome airport while saying goodbye to my wonderful parents who have accompanied us thus far on our adventures the idea struck me: What have I gotten this family into? It was like a sick feeling. A feeling of last chance. This airplane ride was supposed to be our ride home too. The vacation was good now time to go back to real life. You are supposed to always leave wanting more. So this would have been the perfect time to leave and a few hours from now we would be comfortably living the wonderful life we left behind. What are we thinking?
But enough of all that. No turning back. Instead we got a car and we drove to Ostia Antica.
Ostia Antica is the old port city near the airport that has ruins of where all the major products came into Rome from all over the Roman world and then were loaded up the Tiber river to the center of the world. Today it is, like most of the good Roman stuff: Ruined.
The outside of the ruined city is a necropolis where all the good Ostians were buried with signs on their Sepulchers: “John made Bread”, “Harry measured stuff”. Things like that that described what they did in life. These people didn’t think of a life beyond the present they just hoped to be remembered for a little while after they died. For the good bread they probably made. I don’t know.
Inside there was a giant theater that was fun to climb on with a nice stage backdrop.
But can you guess what I really wanted to see there? What do you imagine was the main attraction for me? Was it the mosaics or some cool statues, some old house of some famous emperor? Nope. It was none of those glorious things. For me it was all about seeing the ancient potties. “Kids, we can’t leave until Dad has seen the potties”. That is what fascinated me the most. Have a look:
I had to have a moment to myself just thinking about doing business in this sort of fashion. Imagining just pooping right next to your business associate while you just talk amongst the movements while others chat all around you like you might in the gym with a workout buddy. Cause that’s exactly what was going on. When did we get so private about something like this?
Oh and notice there is a hole in the front of those potties. That’s where the servants come with cloth on a stick come to clean your underside when your done. I guess. Just a fascinating world. But let me ask you what is more civilized? Liking people’s pictures on social media while you go poop or having a real life conversation with someone face to face while you are both just hanging out? I’m guessing it’s hard to be fake when you are in a situation like the good people of Ostia Antica. Those people know how to get down to the things that matter. Both #1 and #2 on their list and they’re not afraid to do it right in front of you and let you watch.
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