Editing History of Cologne (section)

=== Roman period ===
{{Main|Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium}}
[[File:Roman Cologne, reconstruction.JPG|thumb|left|Plan of [[Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium]] (Cologne)]]
[[File:Wall painting with Dionysian scenes from a luxurious Roman villa excavated to the south of the cathedral, Romisch-Germanisches Museum, Cologne (8119170812).jpg|thumb|Fresco with [[Dionysus|Dionysian]] scenes from a Roman villa of [[Cologne]], [[Germany]] (site of the ancient city [[Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium]]), 3rd century AD, [[Romano-Germanic Museum]]]]
[[File:Wall painting with Dionysian scenes from a luxurious Roman villa excavated to the south of the cathedral, Romisch-Germanisches Museum, Cologne (8119154487).jpg|thumb|Fresco with [[Dionysian mysteries|Dionysian scenes]] from a Roman villa of [[Cologne]], [[Germany]] (site of the ancient city [[Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium]]), 3rd century AD, [[Romano-Germanic Museum]]]]
In 39 BC the Germanic tribe of the [[Ubii]] entered into an agreement with the forces of the Roman General [[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa]] and settled on the left bank of the [[Rhine]]. Their headquarters was ''Oppidum Ubiorum'' (settlement of the Ubii) and at the same time an important Roman military base. In 50 AD the Cologne-born [[Agrippina the Younger]], wife of the Emperor [[Claudius]], asked for her home village to be raised to the status of a ''[[Colonia (Roman)|colonia]]'' — a city under Roman law. It was then renamed ''Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensis'' (colony of Claudius and the altar of Agrippina), shortened to ''Colonia Agrippina'' (Colony of Agrippina). In 80 AD the [[Eifel Aqueduct]] was built. It was one of the longest [[Aqueduct (Roman)|aqueducts]] of the Roman Empire, delivering 20,000 cubic metres of water to the city every day. Ten years later, the ''colonia'' became the capital of the Roman province of Lower Germany, ''[[Germania|Germania Inferior]]'', with a total population of 45,000 people{{citation needed|date=April 2013}}{{dubious|date=April 2013}} occupying 96.8 hectares.<ref>J.C. Russell, "Late Ancient and Medieval Population", in ''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society'', vol. 48, part 3, table 89.</ref>

In 260 AD [[Postumus]] made Cologne the capital of the [[Gallic Empire]], which included the Gallic provinces, the German provinces to the left of the Rhine, Britannia, and the provinces of Hispania. The Gallic Empire lasted only fourteen years.

By the 3rd century, only some 20,000 people lived in and around the town.{{citation needed|date=April 2013}} In 310 AD, Emperor [[Constantine I]] had a bridge constructed over the Rhine, guarded by the ''castellum Divitia''. Divitia later became a part of Cologne with the name ''Deutz''.

The presence of [[Jews in Cologne]] was documented in AD 321. When exactly the first Jews arrived in the Rhineland area cannot now be established, but the Cologne community claims to be the oldest north of the Alps.<ref>[http://www.sgk.de/ Synagogen-Gemeinde Köln] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015010353/http://www.sgk.de/ |date=2008-10-15 }} (sgk.de) "''älteste&nbsp;... Jüdische&nbsp;... Gemeinde nördlich der Alpen (urkundlich erwähnt seit 321 n. d. Z.'')" ("the oldest Jewish community north of the Alps, recorded since 321 CE")</ref> As early as 321 AD, an edict by the Emperor [[Constantine I (emperor)|Constantine]] allowed [[Judaism|Jews]] to be elected to the City Council.