Aquincum

The visible ruins of the Aquincum Civil Town represent the excavated one third of the central settlement. The limes road running from north to south was a typical element in the town’s layout, the aquaeductus built along its western side was a similarly characteristic feature. Irregularities in the line of the city wall, reinforced by bastillons on its western side, may be attributed to the network of drainage ditches and some buildings that were probably erected before the construction of the wall. The city wall was interrupted by gates where it intersected with the main streets. The oval amphitheater, located outside the city wall to the north, was also a characteristic feature. Most of the exhibited site plans show the situation that was characteristic of the Aquincum Civil Town at the turn of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Because the Civil Town has only been partially recovered, most data originate from its eastern section. In this area, the existence of insulae of varying sizes may be hypothesized. These were built along the eastern side of the aquaeductus and the limes road and date to the beginning of the 2nd century AD, before the settlement became a municipium. The town’s forum was built at the crossing of the main streets that ran north to south and east to west. A forum quarters was formed to which the shrine of the Imperial cult, the basilica, the great public baths and a row of tabernae belonged.

In the south-eastern and northern sections of the Civil Town, somewhat away from the main street, she whorkshops of and the ornate houses of affl uent citizens and city administrators were located. The town itself was surrounded by an industrial district. Beginning with the 3rd century AD, the east to west main street, which served as a link to the Danube, became increasingly important. It was at this time that the meat market (macellum) was also built in the proximity of the forum. The long lots separated by narrow alleys were reminiscent of oriental urban settlements. Meanwhile habitation quarters and a inn with a bath wing were erected outside the city wall. Aside from sporadic reparations of the fortification system and of some buildings, the ancient Christian cella trichora seems to have been the only newly erected building in the Civil Town. Buildings that formed the central core of the Civil Town are represented in the ruin park situated around the museum.

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