The ancient, abandoned city of Ostia Antica, once the sea port of ancient Rome is like a time capsule. Multi-layered archaelogically, possibly first settled in 7th Century BC, oldest remains dating back to 4th Century BC, sacked by pirates in 68 BC and rebuilt by Cicero. In 113 AD silting of the harbour led to its decline as Rome’s sea port though it wasnt finally abandoned until the 9th Century AD. Peaking at around 100,000 inhabitants it also has the ruins of the oldest Jewish synagogue in Europe. There are 12 centuries here, time has depth, the brickwork, columns, cobbles have texture, and it takes little imagination to consider the population density of 100,000 people living here in ancient times.