\paperw4500 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 \fs22 Between the first and second century the city was provided with an efficient harbor that definitively replaced the gre
at commercial port of Pozzuoli. The increase in population made necessary a radical urban restructuring of the city, a process commenced by \b \cf4 \ATXht158 Augustus\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 and stepped up under \b \cf4 \ATXht164 Trajan\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , \b \cf4 \ATXht157 Hadrian\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , and the Antonines. Everywhere warehouses were constructed for the storage of food and blocks of apartments on several stories (insulae) became more and more numerous. Temples, baths, a forum, and a theater were built.
The economic and political crisis of Rome led to the slow and inexorable decline of Ostia. After Constantinople was made the capital of the Empire (330), malaria accelerated the pace of decline and the city was abandoned between the fourth and fifth cent
ury. Today very little is left of its ancient splendor.
