About 100 aD the Netherlands were being incorporated in the province Germania Inferior. The capital city was Colonia Claudia Ara Agrapinensis, nowadays Cologne. The Dutch city Nijmegen was functioning as camp for several Roman legions.

The Romans took care of building their cities strategically well. Favourite spots were crossings of roads, water ways and higher ground. Most of the time cities grew out of or near older settlements. These principles were also used for Roman cities in the Netherlands, for example Ulpia Novoiomagus (Nijmegen). This Roman city lay atop or near the Batavian capital city Oppidum Batavorum, so called by the Romans. Situated at the river Waal on a bank and near an important road it controlled the surroundings.

Above ground there are only a few remains. This part of the aqueduct (see picture above) can still be admired. In the museum Het Valkhof (Dutch) you can learn more about the Romans in Nijmegen.
 

Between Tongeren and Cologne lay Heerlen (Coriovallum), situated at a crossing of two very important roads. A stop to get some rest and/or to visit the baths. The baths, built by emperor Hadrian were at the same time a meeting place, a fitness room, a sauna, a swimming pool and a library. The ruins of the baths, discovered in 1940, can be visited in the Thermenmuseum at Heerlen. An aqueduct provided the baths with water. It's a pitty, but nothing of the aqueduct has survived.