Via Ostiensis

{{Short description|Roman road from Rome to Ostia, Italy}}

{{expand Italian|Via Ostiense|date=April 2025}}

{{no footnotes|date=November 2010}}

{{infobox ancient site

| name=Via Ostiense

| image=Via Ostiense.jpg

| caption= The road in Ostia (ancient port of Rome)

| coordinates =

| location= Rome to Ostia

| map_type =

| epochs =

| builder= Roman Republic

| type=Roman road

}}

The Via Ostiensis ({{langx|it|via Ostiense}}) was an important road in ancient Rome. It runs west {{convert|30|km}} from the city of Rome to its important sea port of Ostia Antica, from which it took its name. The road began near the Forum Boarium, ran between the Aventine Hill and the Tiber River along its left (eastern) bank, and left the city's Servian Walls through the Porta Trigemina. When the later Aurelian Walls were built, the road left the city through the Porta Ostiensis (Porta San Paolo). In the Late Roman Empire, trade suffered under an economic crisis, and Ostia declined as an important port. With the accompanying growth of importance of the Via Portuensis from the time of Constantine onwards, that of the Via Ostiensis correspondingly decreased.