Short answers, pulled from the story.
Ostia Antica is the modern name for the ancient Roman port city of Ostia, located 25 km southwest of Rome at the historical mouth of the Tiber river. Due to silting of the coastline, the site now lies 3 km from the sea.
According to legend, Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome, founded Ostia. An inscription supports the existence of a military castrum there as early as the 7th century BC, though the oldest archaeological remains discovered so far date to the 4th century BC.
In 68 BC, pirates sacked Ostia, burned the harbour, destroyed the consular war fleet, and kidnapped two prominent senators. The resulting panic in Rome led Pompey the Great to arrange for the tribune Aulus Gabinius to pass the lex Gabinia, granting Pompey authority to raise an army to destroy the pirates, which he accomplished within a year.
The Ostia Synagogue is the earliest synagogue yet identified in Europe. Scholarly analysis indicates it was purpose-built and monumental from its construction in the late 1st century AD, and it underwent multiple renovations between the 2nd and 4th centuries including the installation of a Torah shrine.
Ostia Antica's preservation is surpassed only by Pompeii and Herculaneum. After the city was abandoned, sand dunes covered the site and protected its buildings, frescoes, and mosaics. Approximately two-thirds of the ancient city remains unexcavated.
Estimates place Ostia's population at around 50,000 inhabitants in the 2nd century AD. The city grew substantially under the emperor Hadrian, who held the city's highest magistracy, the duumvir, twice during his reign.