Colonia Iulia Emona - the genesis of the Roman city

Emona was never a Pannonian city; it first belonged to Cisalpine Gaul and since 41 BC to Italy. The boundary stone from Bevke, which is most probably dated to the period of Augustus or perhaps Tiberius, ultimately confirmed that Emona was already an Italian city in the first half of the first century AD, but it must also have belonged to Italy earlier. There is no decisive evidence to establish the precise time when the town became a Roman colony. The proposed dates range from the time of Octavian after the battle at Actium to the beginning of Tiberius' reign. While all the arguments supporting the latter hypothesis have proven to be invalid, a terminus ad quem must be sought most probably in the last years of Octavian's rule, which would also be indicated by the colony's name Iulia.