Aqueducts, bridges, roads, sewer systems... the Romans, as we know, went down in history not only for their extraordinary military prowess, but also for their great construction of public works. But they did not always live up to this reputation, as was the case with the construction of the city of Cremona.

In the 3rd century BC, the Roman Republic entered its second conflict against Carthage (the Second Punic War) and consequently needed to fortify the northern borders of the peninsula to resist a potential invasion. Driven by the need to control the Po Valley (then under Gallic control), the Romans found themselves facing marshy, hostile terrain that still required fortification. In this urban/military drive promoted by the Senate in 218 BC, the city of Cremona was founded on the northern bank of the Po. Consul Gaius Flaminius, with his legions, found the flattest possible terrain and ordered the first piles of the future Lombard city to be planted, not realising, however, that the marshy terrain of the plain soon rendered any construction attempts futile. The situation was so desperate that even hostile tribes (Insubres and Cenomani) began to help the legionaries build the fortification, forcing the desperate and embarrassed Flaminius to stipulate a foedera aequa with the barbarians, that is, reciprocal equal agreements with other populations based on independence and mutual aid. Gaius Flaminius, however, was not naive, and so, once the barbarians had helped the Romans build the military fort, he ordered his soldiers to attack them, forcing them to flee. With solid foundations and free territory, the Romans then completed the construction of Cremona, which, due to its strategic location, soon became an important military and commercial outpost, through which the Republic managed trade in goods and money and could defend Rome.

During the Imperial Age, Cremona achieved considerable wealth, so much so that sources (see Tacitus) describe it as an elegant and well-urbanised city. Emperor Vespasian himself promoted its reconstruction and prosperity in 69 AD.