← Back to the mapRuins of the Roman civil amphitheatre at Aquincum, Budapest
Modern photograph of the civil amphitheatre at Aquincum · Wikimedia Commons

Aquincum

Pannonia · Roman province·Hungary·Founded 89 CE (legionary fortress)

Base of Legio II Adiutrix on the Danube frontier. The proconsul Hadrian lived here just before becoming emperor in 117.

Buried beneath modern Budapest's Obuda district; an open-air ruin garden and museum preserve excavated sections within the living city.

Excavation history

1778
Local discovery (unearthed during construction) — Part of the legionary fortress's bath complex, including Roman underfloor heating, was uncovered in 1778, among the earliest recorded finds at the site.
1860s
Gusztav Zsigmondy — Surveyed the visible remains of the Contra Aquincum fort and the baths of the governor's palace in the 1860s.
1894
Aquincum Museum (Hungarian archaeologists) — The Aquincum Museum opened in 1894 directly on the site of the ongoing excavations, after the civil town's center and amphitheatre had been uncovered during the second half of the 19th century.

Notable finds

Aquincum Water Organ
A fire collapsed the fire brigade's clubhouse onto this bronze-and-wood water organ around 228 CE, and its own dedication inscription survived well enough to name the donor and the year — the world's oldest known organ, since rebuilt and played again.
Aquincum Museum, Budapest
Boxers Mosaic
This floor mosaic catches the exact aftermath of a bout — one fighter still standing, the other slumped on the ground with blood streaming from a head wound — a rare Roman sports scene from the empire's Danube frontier.
Aquincum Museum, Budapest
Albertfalva Military Diploma
This bronze discharge certificate, issued in the late 1st century CE, granted a retiring auxiliary soldier and his family full Roman citizenship — one of thousands the army issued empire-wide to keep veterans loyal.
Aquincum Museum, Budapest
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