ABSTRACT
Aquileia is, according to the UNESCO, most complete example of an early Roman city in the Mediterranean world. By the mid-fourth century, the city was a provincial capital with a population of fifty to a hundred thousand. Archeological work has confirmed the large city center that existed, as well as the presence of major complexes of warehouses, or horreum. These were located along the river to the north of the port where the Basilica di Monastero was located and to the south of the port, immediately adjacent to the Theodorean Basilica in the city. The religious history of the city was wrapped up in the demographics and commerce of Aquileia. Dating to the pre-Roman settlement, numerous local cults associated with mountain passes, rivers, and pre-Roman deities survived well into late antiquity. Christians introduced their religion into this convoluted religious landscape sometime before the mid-third century. The history of Christians in Aquileia after 319 CE overlaps with the biography of Chromatius.
