This book shows how a military colony became a large, impressive and prosperous city. Legendary for its walls and port, it was able to play a basic role in the great strategy of ancient Rome between the Po and the Danube, spanning the centuries from its foundation (181 BC) to the fateful days of blood and violence of its fall (AD 452).   Based on a study of ancient sources, contemporary literature and the latest archaeological research, and written in a fast-paced and accessible style, the book provides a portrait of Aquileia in a diachronic key, under various aspects; it sets the city in the complex societal and political system of the time, gives a thorough account of the great events of which it was a protagonist or victim and offers detailed portraits of key figures, whether famous or less well-known, and analyses of epic battles.   Combining academic scholarship with storytelling, biographies of important personalities and stories of political intrigue, assassinations and full-scale warfare which narrate the evocative epic of the rise, decline and disappearance of ancient cities, the volume highlights a significant topic in Roman political, social, economic, religious and military history, but one which has been inexplicably neglected in the Anglo-Saxon world until now.

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. * New Testament Abstracts *

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).