Roman Aquileia

Natale Barca was Visiting Scholar Researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, and Academic Visitor at the University of London’s Institute of Classical Studies. He is a member of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies (Roman Society), London. He has previously published numerous books in his native Italian, and in English. His latest publications are focused on the history and archaeology of ancient cities of the Mediterranean, including Roman Aquileia: The Impenetrable City-Fortress, a Sentry of the Alps (Oxbow Books, 2022).

• AbbreviationsPrefaceIntroduction: The background1. The northernmost stronghold2. Caesar's seat for Illyrian affairs3. The capital of the Regio X-Venetia et Histria4. A portrait of a Roman city in the Early Empire5. In the whirlwind of the Marcomannic Wars                                  6. Aquileia’s War7. The Great Constantinian Aquileia8. A residence of emperors and an evangelizing Church9. Aquileia in the sunset of the Empire10. Aquileia's fallAppendix: The Roman expansion in northern ItalyChronology Contemporary referencesFurther reading

This book traces the history of the Roman city-fortress of Aquileia, the fulcrum of the defensive system of the eastern Alps, from its foundation in 181 BCE. to its fall in 452 CE. to Attila the Hun, based on a study of ancient sources, contemporary literature, and the latest archaeological research. It shows how what started as a military colony became a large, impressive, and prosperous city, legendary for its wall and its port on the Adriatic Sea, and able to play a fundamental role in the strategy of ancient Rome between the Po and the Danube.