(
Friulian ''Aquilee'',
Slovene ''Oglej'') is an
Ancient Roman
Town of
Italy , at the head of the
Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso (mod. ''
Natisone ''), the course of which has changed somewhat since
Roman times.
Aquileia was founded by the
Romans in
181 BC as a frontier fortress on the north-east, not far from the site where, two years before,
Gaul ish invaders had attempted to settle. The colony was led by two men of
Consul ar and one of
Praetorian rank, and 3000 ''pedites'' (infantry) formed the bulk of the settlers. Some scholars believe that Aquileia had been a center of
Venetia even before the coming of the Romans.
It was probably connected by road with Bononia in
173 BC ; and subsequently with
Genua in
148 BC by the ''
Via Postumia '', which ran through
Cremona , Bedriacum and
Altinum , joining the first-mentioned road at Concordia, while the construction of the ''
Via Popilia '' from Ariminum to Ad Portum near Altinum in
132 BC improved the communications still further.
- .html#6.12" class="copylinks" target="_blank">(Strabo iv. 208) brought it into notice, and it soon became a place of importance, not only owing to its strategic position, but as a centre of trade, especially in agricultural products. It also had, in later times at least, considerable brickfields.
It was originally a
Latin colony, but became a ''
Municipium '' probably in
90 BC . The customs boundary of Italy was close by in
Cicero 's day. It was plundered by the
Iapydes under
Augustus , but, in the period of peace which followed, was able to develop its resources. Augustus visited it during the Pannonian wars in 12‑10 BC and it was the birthplace of
Tiberius ' son by Julia, in the latter year.
It was the starting-point of several important roads leading to the north-eastern portion of the empire — the road (''
Via Iulia Augusta '') by ''Iulium Carnicum'' to Veldidena (mod.
Wilten , near
Innsbruck ), from which branched off the road into
Noricum , leading by Virunum (Klagenfurt) to Laurieum (Lorch) on the
Danube , the road into
Pannonia , leading to Aemona (
Laibach, Ljubljana )
road is described in detail by O. Cuntz in ''Jahreshefte des Österr. Arch. Inst.'' v. (1902), Beiblatt, pp. 139 seq. and Sirmium (
Mitrowitz ,
Sremska Mitrovica ), the road to Tarsatica (near
Rijeka ) and Siscia (
Sisak ), and that to Tergeste (
Trieste ) and the
Istria n coast.
In the war against the
Marcomanni in
167 , the town was hard pressed; the fortifications had fallen into disrepair during the long peace. In
238 , when the town took the side of the Senate against the Emperor
Maximinus , they were hastily restored, and proved of sufficient strength to resist for several months, until Maximinus himself was assassinated.
on this
As struck in Aquileia mint.]]
The
4th Century marks, however, the greatest importance of Aquileia; it became a naval station and, probably, the seat of the ''
Corrector Venetiarum et Histriae''; a mint was established here, the coins of which are very numerous, and the bishop obtained the rank of
Patriarch . A council held in the city in 381 was only the first of a series of
Councils Of Aquileia that have been convoked over the centuries.
An imperial palace was constructed here, in which the emperors after the time of
Diocletian frequently resided; and the city often played a part in the struggles between the rulers of the 4th century. At the end of the century,
Ausonius enumerated it as the ninth among the great cities of the world, placing
Rome ,
Mediolanum and
Capua before it, and called it "''moenibus et portu celeberrima.''"
In
452 , however, it was destroyed by
Attila , though it continued to exist until the
Lombard invasion of
568 . After this the patriarchate was transferred to
Grado .
In
606 the diocese was divided into two parts, and the patriarchate of Aquileia, protected by the
Lombards , was revived, that of Grado being protected by the
Exarch of
Ravenna and later by the
Doge s of
Venice .
In
1027 and
1044 Patriarch Poppo of Aquileia entered and sacked Grado, and, though the Pope reconfirmed the Patriarch of the latter in his dignities, the town never recovered, though it continued to be the seat of the Patriarchate until its formal transference to Venice in
1450 .
The seat of the patriarchate of Aquileia had been transferred to
Udine in
1238 , but returned in
1420 when Venice annexed the territory of Udine. It was finally suppressed in
1751 , and the sees of Udine and
Gorizia (Görz) established in its stead.
Its buildings served as stone quarries for centuries, and no edifices of the Roman period remain above ground. Excavations have revealed one street and the north-west angle of the town walls, while the local museum contains over 2000 inscriptions, besides statues and other antiquities. The cathedral, a flat-roofed basilica, was erected by Patriarch Poppo in
1031 on the site of an earlier church, and rebuilt about
1379 in the
Gothic style by Patriarch Marquad. The
Narthex and
Baptistery belong to an earlier period. Of the palace of the patriarchs only two isolated columns remain standing.
The site of Aquileia, believed to be the largest Roman city yet to be excavated, is inscribed on the
World Heritage List .
