Aeminium was the ancient name of the city of

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...

, Portugal. The Romans founded the

civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by Roman law, law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilitie ...

of Aeminium in this place at the time of

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

, which came under the protection of nearby Conímbriga situated some to the south. The Roman city was encircled by a wall, and followed an orthogonal plan, with the '' cardo maximus'' and '' decumanus maximus'' crossing at the forum. An aqueduct existed, the remains of which were incorporated into a latter medieval renovation. Locations for the

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

and amphitheater were also proposed, but still unconfirmed by archeology. A

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road, and usually standing alone, unconnected to other buildings. In its simplest form, a triumphal ...

is documented, but was destroyed in 1778. Also a necropolis was located to the east of the city. The

Suebi file:1st century Germani.png, 300px, The approximate positions of some Germanic peoples reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 1st century. Suebian peoples in red, and other Irminones in purple. The Suebi (also spelled Suavi, Suevi or Suebians ...

razed the nearby township of Conímbriga in 468. Its inhabitants, who had meanwhile fled to Aeminium, kept the original name of their town. In modern Coimbra there are few remains from ancient Aeminium. The most important is the '' cryptoporticus'', an underground gallery of arched corridors built in the 1st or 2nd century AD to support the forum of the city. Gaius Sevius Lupus was probably the architect. During the Middle Ages the bishop's palace, now turned into the Machado de Castro National Museum, was built over the forum; the ''cryptoporticus'' is located under it. The ''cryptoporticus'' can be visited through the museum.

References

History of Coimbra Roman towns and cities in Portugal {{AncientRome-stub

See also

References