The Romans under Julius Caesar in 58 to 50 BCE had first subdued the Treveri.

The Romans no later than 16 BCE had founded the city of Augusta Treverorum ("City of Augustus in the land of the Treveri") at the foot of the Petrisberg, upon which a military camp had been set up in 30 BCE and a few months later abandoned again.

The honor of being named after the Emperor is one shared only by Augsburg and Augst in northern Switzerland.

Emperor Augustus after the reorganization of the Roman provinces in Germany in 16 BCE had decided that the city should become the capital of the province of Belgica.

Here the Romans shortly before CE 100 construct an amphitheater, the signal sign of a city of any importance.