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Roman Cologne

Fresco with Dionysian scenes from a Roman villa of Cologne, Germany (site of the ancient city Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium), 3rd century AD, Romano-Germanic Museum

The first urban settlement on the grounds of modern-day Cologne was Oppidum Ubiorum, founded in 38 BC by the Ubii, a Cisrhenian Germanic tribe, and the Roman general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. An altar would later be built called the Ara Ubiorum which served to prove the loyalty of the city towards the rest of the Roman Empire. Excavations have proved fruitless in finding the Ara Ubiorum altar, despite assumptions of its location being near the city center. In 50 AD, the Romans founded Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (Cologne) on the river Rhine ,and the city became the provincial capital of Germania Inferior in 85 AD. Remains of this colony can be found in the city center, many modern streets lying directly above their original Roman counterparts.

Considerable Roman remains can be found in present-day Cologne, like the city walls. Such walls were built towards the end of the 1st century C.E. but many sections still stand throughout various parts of the city. There are plenty of ruins situated around and near the wharf area, where even a 1,900-year-old Roman boat was discovered in late 2007. From 260 to 271 Cologne was the capital of the Gallic Empire under Postumus, Marius, and Victorinus. In 310 under emperor Constantine I a bridge was built over the Rhine at Cologne. Roman imperial governors resided in the city and it became one of the most important trade and production centres in the Roman Empire north of the Alps. Cologne is shown on the 4th century Peutinger Map.

Maternus, who was elected as bishop in 313, was the first known bishop of Cologne. The city was the capital of a Roman province until it was occupied by the Ripuarian Franks in 462. Parts of the original Roman sewers are preserved underneath the city, with the new sewerage system having opened in 1890.