Aquileia

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Aquileia (furlanic Aquilee, German Aquileja or Agley or Aglar(n), Slovenian Oglej) is a town with inhabitants (stand) in the Italian region Friuli Venezia Giulia. The city is located on the Natissa River in today’s Friuli (northern Italy), about ten kilometers from the Grado lagoon on the Gulf of Trieste. It was a strategically and economically important city of the Roman Empire. Remains of the Roman city can be visited in the open air and in two museums, but the largest part has not yet been sighted archaeologically (as of 2017). In the medieval basilica of Aquileia is the most important early Christian floor mosaic in Italy, dated to the early 4th century.

History

Prehistoric settlement
A first settlement of the later urban area of Aquileia can be proven for the early Iron Age (about 800-500 BC). North of the forum, at a depth of three to four meters below the current running level, remains of a settlement from this era came to light.

Roman period

Establishment, designation and early development

Aquileia was founded during the Roman-Gallic Wars. In 186 BC, according to the Roman writer Titus Livius, Celtic settlers had peacefully moved to Italy to establish a settlement in the place of the later Aquileia; A similar migration was repeated in 183 BC. However, after the general Marcus Claudius Marcellus had driven the Celts out of the room, the Senate decided to establish a Roman colony there to ensure permanent control over the area. For the organization of the founding of the city, three senators were appointed triumviri coloniae deducendae, namely Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica, Gaius Flaminius and Lucius Manlius Acidinus Fulvianus (whose name and title were also found on an inscription from Aquileia). It was determined that the new city should not receive full Roman citizenship, but only Latin citizenship. In 181 BC, after renewed confrontations with a Celtic tribe, the new city called Aquileia was founded. According to the Livius, 3000 veterans with their families and officers were settled there.

The origin of the city name is not completely clarified. An ancient theory derived the name Aquileia from the word aquila ("eagle"), which is rejected by modern research. Another ancient derivation originates from a river called Aquilis, which was responsible for naming the city. The ending -eia could be an indication that the Latin name resorted to the designation of an older, Celtic predecessor settlement. This in turn could be due to an Etruscan or Council personal name.

The foundation of the Roman city of Aquileia was to