Aquincum used to be the capital of the Roman province Pann≤nia inferior which was situated in what is today the Western part of Hungary. After 14 D.C. smaller Roman military camps were set up on the Buda side. A legion was garrisoned here from the end of the first century followed by an army of 10 thousand Romans later on. Aquincum was flourishing in the 2nd-3rd centuries when it was an important trade centre in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire. By the end of the 4th century as the empire started to decline they were less and less able to resist the attacks of the nomadic people invading these territories from the East. Therefore, in 409 the Romans had no choice but sign an agreement with the Huns (nomadic tribe) and obliged themselves to empty the territory of Aquincum.
Aquincum consists of three bigger parts: the legion camp in the area bordered by the Buda side of the ┴rpßd hφd, ╙buda F⌡ tΘr and the Fl≤rißn tΘr; the civil town in the area around the Aquincum Museum; the pre-Roman Eraviscus settlements in the area of Tabßn and GellΘrthegy.
On the way to Szentendre, on the Szentendrei ·t (about 2 km North of Fl≤rißn tΘr ) visitors can tour the remnants of the Roman civil town. It was a city-like settlement with neatly arranged, small, straight streets. Most of the dwelling-houses could be called modern and convenient - to the standards of those days - with sewers, water conduit and in some places with floor heating. From among the public buildings the most popular ones are the public baths and the Mithras sanctuaries. After the fall of the Roman Empire, while the Huns dominated, the town gradually started to decline. During the Middle Ages the stones of the ruins were exploited; the once flourishing settlement slowly sank into oblivion and its remnants got slowly burried.
The museum was erected in the middle of the civil town. Its middle section was built in 1894 and later was enlarged with the side wings. The archeological findings, relics, tools excavated in the area of Aquincum are put on show in five exhibition halls. The elliptical amphitheatre was built from stones and earth bank outside the walls of the town. The crocks found during the excavations suggest that some parts of the construction were probably covered. There were seats for about 6-8000 people. The names of the owners or their initials were graved into some of the stone seats.
