Aquileia The origins of Aquileia date back a long time ago. In the place where, already in the proto-historic period, it used to trade amber from the North bartering it for seaborne items arriving from the Mediterranean and the Middle East docks, the Romans founded in 181 BC a colony.

From a military outpost to a capital of the "X Regio Venetia et Histria", the city developed rapidly because of exclusive military reasons relating to expansionist aims of Roman Empire towards central European and Balkan regions. Aquileia became flourishing and prosperous thanks to the vast trade through a functional and capillary road network. It used to have mighty defensive walls and enormous buildings such as circus, amphitheatre, theatre, thermal baths, forum at the crossing between the main cardo and decumanus. It reached its peak during Caesar 's empire: its inhabitans were more than 200.000 and became one of the biggest and richest city of the whole Empire. It was the residence of many emperors, its palace was very visited, till Constantino the Great and longer. With Attila's destruction in the middle of Vth century AD, there was the final economical and social collapse of Aquileia that lasted till the Medieval period.

Aquileia remained an important political and cultural centre, also during Hungarian invasions (Xth century AD), notwithstanding it was a problem area of the Empire, meeting point of Latin, German and Slav civilization. Patriarch of Aquileia was always close and friendly to the political power even when the power became German. In 1077 emperor Henry IV granted to Sigeardo Patriarca the feudal investiture with the ducal title over the County, giving the origin of the "Stato della Patria del Friuli".