Colonia (Roman) in the context of "Roman Dacia"

A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their metropole (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often organized into colonial empires, with their metropoles at their centers, making colonies neither annexed or even integrated territories, nor client states. Particularly new imperialism and its colonialism advanced this separated rule and its lasting coloniality. Colonies were most often set up and colonized for exploitation and possibly settlement by colonists.

The term colony originates from the ancient Roman colonia, a type of Roman settlement. Derived from colonus (farmer, cultivator, planter, or settler), it carries with it the sense of 'farm' and 'landed estate'.Furthermore, the term was used to refer to the older Greek apoikia (Ancient Greek: ἀποικία, lit. 'home away from home'), which were overseas settlements by ancient Greek city-states. The city that founded such a settlement became known as its metropolis ("mother-city"). Since early-modern times, historians, administrators, and political scientists have generally used the term "colony" to refer mainly to the many different overseas territories of particularly European states between the 15th and 20th centuries CE, with colonialism and decolonization as corresponding phenomena.

In ancient Rome, the Latin term municipium (pl.: municipia) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the municipium was a social contract among municipes ('duty holders'), or citizens of the town. The duties (munera) were a communal obligation assumed by the municipes in exchange for the privileges and protections of citizenship. Every citizen was a municeps.

The distinction of municipia was not made in the Roman Kingdom; instead, the immediate neighbours of the city were invited or compelled to transfer their populations to the urban structure of Rome, where they took up residence in neighbourhoods and became Romans per se. Under the Roman Republic the practical considerations of incorporating communities into the city-state of Rome forced the Romans to devise the concept of municipium, a distinct state under the jurisdiction of Rome. It was necessary to distinguish various types of municipia and other settlements, such as the colony. In the early Roman Empire these distinctions began to disappear; for example, when Pliny the Elder served in the Roman army, the distinctions were only nominal. In the final stage of development, all citizens of all cities and towns throughout the empire were equally citizens of Rome. The municipium then simply meant municipality, the lowest level of local government.

Butrint (Greek: Βουθρωτόν and Βουθρωτός, romanized: Bouthrōtón, Latin: Buthrōtum, Albanian: Butrint) was an ancient Greek polis and later Roman city and the seat of an early Christian bishopric in Epirus.

Originally a settlement of the Greek tribe of the Chaonians, it later became part of the state of Epirus and later a Roman colonia and a Byzantine bishopric. It entered into decline in Late Antiquity, before being abandoned during the Middle Ages after a major earthquake flooded most of the city. In modern times it is an archeological site in Vlorë County, Albania, some 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) south of Sarandë, close to the Greek border. It is located on a hill overlooking the Vivari Channel and is part of the Butrint National Park. Today, Bouthrotum is a Latin Catholic titular see and also features the Ali Pasha Castle.

The Roman Theatre of Mérida is a Roman theatre in the Roman colonia of Emerita Augusta –present-day Mérida, Spain–, capital of the Roman province of Lusitania. Its construction was promoted by the consul Vipsanius Agrippa and was built in 16–15 BCE. It was used for Roman theatrical performances during ancient Rome. Since 1933, it houses the International Festival of Classical Theatre of Mérida [es].

The theatre has undergone several renovations, notably at the end of the 1st century or early 2nd century CE (possibly during the reign of Emperor Trajan), when the current facade of the scaenae frons was erected, and another in the time of Constantine I (between 330 and 340 CE), which introduced new decorative-architectural elements and a walkway around the monument. Following the theatre's abandonment in Late Antiquity, it was slowly covered with earth, with only the upper tiers of seats (summa cavea) remaining visible. In local folklore the site was referred to as "The Seven Chairs", where, according to tradition, several Moorish kings sat to decide the fate of the city.

The Latin word insula (lit. 'island'; pl.: insulae) was used in Roman cities to mean either a city block in a city plan (i.e. a building area surrounded by four streets) or later a type of apartment building that occupied such a city block specifically in Rome and nearby Ostia. The latter type of Insulae were known to be prone to fire and rife with disease.

A standard Roman city plan was based on a grid of orthogonal (laid out on right angles) streets. It was founded on ancient Greek city models, described by Hippodamus. It was used especially when new cities were established, e.g. in Roman coloniae.

Italica (Spanish: Itálica) was an ancient Roman city in Hispania; its site is close to the town of Santiponce in the province of Seville, Spain. It was founded in 206 BC by Roman general Scipio as a colonia for his Italic veterans and named after them. Italica later grew attracting new migrants from the Italian peninsula and also with the children of Roman soldiers and native women. Among the Italic settlers were a branch of the gens Ulpia from the Umbrian city of Tuder and a branch of the gens Aelia from the city of Hadria, either co-founders of the town or later migrants who arrived at an unknown time; the Ulpi Traiani and the Aelii Hadriani were the respective stirpes of the Roman emperors Trajan and Hadrian, both born in Italica.

According to some authors, Italica was also the birthplace of Theodosius.

Córdoba (/ˈkɔːrdəbə/ KOR-də-bə; Spanish: [ˈkoɾðoβa] ), or sometimes Cordova (/ˈkɔːrdəvə/ KOR-də-və), is a city in Andalusia, Spain, and the capital of the province of Córdoba. With a population of 324,902 as of 2024, it is the 12th-largest city in Spain and the 3rd-largest in Andalusia.

The city primarily lies on the right bank of the Guadalquivir in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. Once a Roman colony, it was taken over by the Visigothic Kingdom in the sixth century and then conquered by the Muslims in the eighth century. Córdoba became the capital of the Emirate and then Caliphate of Córdoba, from which the Umayyad dynasty ruled al-Andalus. Under Umayyad rule, Córdoba was transformed into a centre of education and learning, and by the 10th century it had grown to be the second-largest city in Europe. The caliphate experienced a manifold political crisis in the early 11th century that brought about state collapse. Following the Christian conquest in 1236, Córdoba became part of the Crown of Castile as the head of the Kingdom of Córdoba.

Lugdunum (also spelled Lugudunum, Latin: [ɫʊɡ(ʊ)ˈduːnʊ̃ː]; modern Lyon, France) was an important Roman city in Gaul, established on the current site of Lyon.

The Roman city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, but continued an existing Gallic settlement with a likely population of several thousands. It served as the capital of the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis and was an important city in the western half of the Roman Empire for centuries. Two emperors, Claudius and Caracalla, were born in Lugdunum. In the period AD 69–192 , the city's population may have numbered 50,000 to 100,000, and possibly up to 200,000 inhabitants.

A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road, and usually standing alone, unconnected to other buildings. In its simplest form, a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, typically crowned with a flat entablature or attic on which a statue might be mounted or which bears commemorative inscriptions. The main structure is often decorated with carvings, sculpted reliefs, and dedications. More elaborate triumphal arches may have multiple archways, or in a tetrapylon, passages leading in four directions.

Triumphal arches are one of the most influential and distinctive types of ancient Roman architecture. Effectively invented by the Romans, and using their skill in making arches and vaults, the Roman triumphal arch was used to commemorate victorious generals or significant public events such as the founding of new colonies, the construction of a road or bridge, the death of a member of the imperial family or the accession of a new emperor.