The Roman-German Museum of Cologne is dedicated to the history of the city from the Paleolithic period. Given that Cologne in the era of Ancient Rome was the capital of the province of Lower Germany, the main exhibition is dedicated to this era. The famous Cologne Cathedral is located in the immediate vicinity of the museum.
The largest Roman town in the area of Germany was Trier, then called Augustum Trevorum. However, the town of Colonia Agrippinensis, which later became Cologne, also played an important role. It was located in the north of the Roman possessions in Gaul, whose border ran along the Rhine. On the left bank were Roman settlements, and on the right bank was the territory of wild barbarian tribes, with whom the Romans were constantly at war.
The Roman-Germanic Museum is located on the site where the center of the town of Colonia Agrippinensis was in Roman times. The Roman nobility built their palaces here. The main exhibit of the museum is a huge Mosaic of Dionysius, which used to adorn the floor of one of these palaces. It was found during excavations near the cathedral. The mosaic of Dionysus is so large (70 m2) that it was decided not to dismantle it, but to build a museum building around it. The mosaic depicts scenes with the god Dionysus, satyrs and nymphs.
In the museum there is another mosaic of large sizes, which was called the "Mosaic of Philosophers". It was found in 1844. It depicts portraits of ancient Greek philosophers: Socrates, Aristotle, Plato and others. On three floors of the museum, you can see numerous sculptures, parts of statues, burial slabs and other artifacts of the Roman era found during excavations. There are also parts of the wooden bridge that connected the Colony of Agrippinensis to the right bank of the Rhine. It is interesting to see what the cart used by the ancient Romans to move along the roads of the empire looked like.
On all three floors of the Germano-Roman Museum there are many household items and jewelry of the Roman and medieval era. Some jewelry are made of gold. The museum has a large collection of glass from the Roman period.
The largest exhibit that occupies the space between the two floors is the tombstone of Legionnaire Publicius. Most of it is original. It was partially restored in the 20th century so that we can see the original design of the sculptor. The height of the tombstone is 14 meters.
