The city transformed into an important nerve center for trade thanks to the Natisone – Torre river that crosses it and the road network that connected the city to the Po Valley and the rest of Europe. At the end of the imperial age it was the fourth Roman city in Italy and the ninth in the entire empire.
The basilica of Aquileia is considered the Ecclesia Master for the whole of Western Europe, because from here the new faith radiated into these lands. The Archaeological Museum, the Roman Forum, the Sepulcreto and the Mausoleum are some of the most important remains of Aquileia.