History of Cologne - Roman Period

Roman Period

In 39 BC, the tribe of the Ubii entered into an agreement with the Roman forces and settled on the left bank of the Rhine. Their headquarters was Oppidum Ubiorum — the settlement of the Ubii, and at the same time an important Roman military base. In 50 AD, Agrippina the Younger, wife of the Emperor Claudius, who was born in Cologne, asked for her home village to be raised to the status of a colonia — a city under Roman law. It was called Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensis (a "colony of Claudius and the altar of Agrippina"), or Colonia Agrippina, "the Colony of Agrippina". In 80 AD the Eifel Aqueduct was built as a major source for water. The Eifel Aqeduct was one of the longest aqueducts of the Roman Empire, it delivered 20,000 cubic metres of water to the city every day. Ten years later, the colonia became the capital of the Roman province of Lower Germany Germania Inferior with a total population of 45,000 people.

In 260 AD Postumus made Cologne the capital of the Gallic Empire which included the German and Gallic provinces, Britannia and the provinces of Hispania. The Gallic Empire lasted only fourteen years.

By the 3rd century, only 20,000 people lived in and around the town. In 310 AD, Emperor Constantine I had a bridge over the Rhine constructed; this was guarded by the castellum Divitia (nowadays "Deutz").

In 321 AD Jews are documented in Cologne. When exactly the first Jews arrived in the Rhineland area cannot be established, though the Cologne community claims to be the oldest north of the Alps.