AQUILEIA CIVITAS

Aquileia has been selected by Roberto Amati in relation to the real history of european integration, then enlisted in the CITY OR CIVITAS category, accompanied by own fact SHEET useful to the comprehension, completed of historical MAPS AND IMAGES or with a direct linking to the related Blog contents dedicated to the entire history of european integration and the future of Europe.

Aquileia is one of the most ancient cities of the history of European integration, signed in great part by Christianity. The Civitas Aquileia was founded in 180 BC by Romans in a strategic point at the crossing of several ancient roman ways: the Postumia way coming from Genoa; the Annia way coming from Adria; the Gemina way starting from Aquilea and ending in Emona (tha actual Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia), first step of the Amber Road that passing throught Carnuntum could reach the Baltic sea banks; the Julia Way starting from Aquilea towards Noricum province and the modern city of Innsbruck.

In origin it was a Colonia inhabited by 3,000 families of Piceni and Samnites Italics tribes, which received large pieces of the public land (Ager Romanus) to share with the local Veneti people. Its particular position grew up commercial relations with the near civitas, to trade their agricultural and viticulture products and manufactured bricks. Within the reform of Augustus (see Roman Empire), Aquileia became the capital of the Regio X Venetia et Histria of the Italiae province, where could live together Romans, Jewish and Celts people: in terms of religion, the populace adopted the Roman pantheon, together with the Celtic sun-god, Belenus, meanwhile the Jews practiced their ancestral religion and soldiers brought the martial cult of Mithras.

With the reform of Constantine I (see Christian Empire), Aquileia became the seat of an imperiale Diocesis and obtained the rank of metropolitan archbishop, becouse of its originary christian community. Many councils were held in the city since 381 AD, when it started playing a decisive part in the Christianity and the entire history of european integration. Aquileia was among the tenth great cities of the world still during the Middle Age when Attila invaded Italy: for that reason, part of the inhanitants escaped to the Venetian Lagoon where they founded the city of Venice. Time after, when Lombards conquered Italy in 568 AD, Aquileia continued to elige its Patriarch but was disputed by the Lombards reign, the Republic of Venice and the Exarchate of Ravenna.

In late VIII century AD the Lombard reign was conquered by Charlemagne and assigned to Italy Regnum, so that Aquileia Patriarchate went under the rule of the Friuli Marquisade, until it existed: from the XI century, after the raids of Magyars, Aquileia became a strong and wide feudal archbishopric part of the Reich attribuited of temporal powers, rich enough to erect the romanic Cathedral over the site of an earlier church near the 5th century benedictine monastir. Now that archeological area is included in a national museum enlisted in the UNESCO Wordl Heritage. From 1450 AD, Aquileia was annexed to the Republic of Venice and followed its history until today.

Nowadays, Aquileia is a little country in the north-east of Italy, part of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, whose patron are Sts. Hermagoras and Fortunatus founders of the ancient christian community.

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