Following the conquest and destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army in 70 CE, the Tenth Roman Legion was garrisoned in the devastated city. In 130 CE, the Emperor Hadrian (117-138 CE) founded a Roman pagan city on the ruins of Jerusalem, calling it Aelia Capitolina. The city was built in accordance with a pre-conceived Roman town plan, which essentially has determined the contours of Jerusalem to this day.

Over the course of the 3rd century CE, the status of Aelia Capitolina, as an important city declined. Jerusalem regained its status only in 324 CE, after the Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337 CE) took control also of the eastern Roman Empire and Christianity became the predominant religion.

1. The Valley Cardo (Cardo Valensis)

This is the main lengthwise eastern thoroughfare traversing the city along the Tyropoeon valley. The continuation of this street can be observed to the south of the Tannery gate in the city wall.

2-4. The Tenth Roman Legion Army Camp

A section of the camp wall, the public structures, and numerous finds associated with the Tenth Legion found in the excavations, indicate the Legion’s camp occupied the the Temple Mount compound and the area at the foot of its southwestern corner.

2. The Wall of the Tenth Legion Camp

The Ottoman wall running southward from the Temple Mount’s southern wall and then turning westward apparently follows the course of the earlier wall of the Tenth Legion camp. The line of this wall should also be related to the even earlier western Ophel wall of the First Temple period.

3. The Bakery

Near Robinson’s Arch, four rooms of the Tenth Legion bakery were excavated. Circular ovens, 1.3 meters (4.3 ft) in diameter, paved with bricks bearing the Tenth Legion stamp, were sunk into the floor of the bakery.

4. The Large Bath-House

A well-preserved, partly excavated bath-house of legionary’s type was found in the area west of the Western Wall and north of the bakery. ♦