Aquincum (, ) was an ancient city, situated on the northeastern borders of the province of

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

within the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. The ruins of the city can be found in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, the capital city of

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. It is believed that

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

wrote at least part of his book ''

Meditations ''Meditations'' () is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161–180 AD, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. Composition Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the ''Meditations'' i ...

'' at Aquincum.

History

Aquincum was originally settled by the

Eravisci The Eravisci () were a Celtic or Pannonian people who inhabited Transdanubia, including Gellért Hill, Dunaújváros, and Aquincum. The Roman ruins of their city Aquincum stand today and are the Aquincum Museum. Very little is known about them. ...

, a

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

tribe. Aquincum served as a military base (''

castrum ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

''), having been part of the Roman border protection system called ''

limes Limes may refer to: * ''Limes'' (Roman Empire), a border marker and defense system of the Roman Empire * ''Limes'' (Italian magazine), an Italian geopolitical magazine * ''Limes'' (Romanian magazine), a Romanian literary and political quarterly ma ...

''. Around AD 41–54, a 500-strong cavalry unit arrived, and a

Roman legion The Roman legion (, ) was the largest military List of military legions, unit of the Roman army, composed of Roman citizenship, Roman citizens serving as legionary, legionaries. During the Roman Republic the manipular legion comprised 4,200 i ...

of 6,000 men (

Legio II Adiutrix Legio II Adiutrix ("Second Legion, the Rescuer") was a Roman legion, legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in AD 70 by the emperor Vespasian (r. 69–79), originally composed of Roman navy marines of the ''classis Ravennatis''. There are stil ...

) was stationed there by AD 89. The city gradually grew around the fortress, and after Pannonia was reorganised by the Romans in AD 103, Aquincum became the capital city of the Roman province of

Pannonia Inferior Pannonia Inferior, lit. Lower Pannonia, was a province of the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sirmium. It was one of the border provinces on the Danube. It was formed in the year 103 AD by Emperor Trajan who divided the former province of Pannonia ...

until the administrative reform of

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

more than a century later. Under

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

, the city obtained municipal status, while under

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...

, Aquincum became a colonia. As the centre of operations on the Roman frontier against the neighbouring

Iazyges The Iazyges () were an ancient Sarmatians, Sarmatian tribe that traveled westward in 200BC from Central Asia to the steppes of modern Ukraine. In , they moved into modern-day Hungary and Serbia near the Pannonian steppe between the Danube ...

, Aquincum was occasionally the headquarters of emperors. The city had at least 30,000 inhabitants by the end of the 2nd century, and covered a significant part of the area that became the

Óbuda Óbuda (, ) is, together with Buda and Pest, one of the three cities that were unified to form the Hungarian capital city of Budapest in 1873. Today, together with Békásmegyer, Óbuda forms a part of the city's third district, although the to ...

district within Budapest. Ruins from the old Roman settlement can be seen in other parts of Budapest such as Contra-Aquincum. These Roman structures were, during the 2nd and 3rd century AD, the heart of the commercial life of the Pannonia province. The excavations show evidence of the lifestyle of this period. From the beginning of the 3rd century

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

began to spread in the city. During the middle of the 4th century, Aquincum was under constant

Sarmatian The Sarmatians (; ; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe from about the 5th century BCE to the 4t ...

attacks from the north. The

decline of the Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire, also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome, was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast ...

also affected Aquincum, and the ancient city was largely destroyed by 350 AD.

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

and the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

invaded the region during 409 AD.

Settlement buildings

People living in the settlement could enjoy the achievements of the Empire, like central heating in the houses,

public baths Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

, a Mithraeum and palaces, The most important monuments in Aquincum are the two amphitheatres: the Aquincum Civil Amphitheatre and the

Aquincum Military Amphitheatre The Aquincum Military Amphitheatre is the greater of two amphitheatres in Budapest, Hungary, the other being the Aquincum Civil Amphitheatre. It is located in the Obuda district, just north near the Danube river. It was built around 145, dur ...

, built in the 1st century AD. These were venues for gladiatorial combats and beast fights.

Aquincum Museum

Many historic artifacts from the city now appear in the

Aquincum Museum The Aquincum Museum is a museum in Budapest, Hungary. It first opened in May 1894. Archeological findings from the remains of Aquincum Aquincum (, ) was an ancient city, situated on the northeastern borders of the province of Pannonia with ...

. The museum exhibits a reconstruction of the hydraulic system. Roman houses and paintings that have been recovered on site. The ruins of a three-level aqueduct have been discovered around the city, many of which can be seen to this day.

References

External links

Aquincum museumAquincum - Aerial photographyVideo footage of ancient city of Aquincum of the Roman Empire.Aquincum Ruins

History

Settlement buildings

Aquincum Museum

See also

References

External links

Further reading