Rome came into direct contact with the Histri, the indigenous inhabitants of the Istrian peninsula, in the last decades of the 3rd century BC. Wars for supremacy in the northern Adriatic lasted, with varying fortunes, until 177 BC, when after a months-long exhausting siege, the Roman army conquered Nezakcij, the main Histrian settlement and seat of King Epulon. During the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, the Histri gradually adopted Italian products and customs through trade exchange, without substantially changing their traditional way of life. The turning point in the Romanization of Istria occurred during Caesar's time, in the mid-1st century BC. Then the survey and cadastral division of arable land was carried out, annexed to newly founded Roman cities. Old Histrian fortified settlements and ports on the western coast of Istria, Pola and Parentium, became colonies of Roman citizens and vibrant centers of social, religious, and commercial life. They were settled by newcomers from Italy, but also by numerous slaves born in distant Greek, eastern, and African provinces, whose descendants would acquire Roman citizenship over several generations, creating a cosmopolitan atmosphere characteristic of Roman port cities.
Roman colonies in a short period enabled the complete introduction of a monetary economy based on the unified Roman currency and measurement system, the adoption of Latin script and language, Roman and Greek names, customs, and beliefs. Pula became the largest, richest, and most important city in Istria, adorned with two theaters and an amphitheater. Forum temples and city gates with the Sergi Arch and walls represent additional attractions of Pula. Through maritime trade, natural treasures, materials, and products from all provinces on the shores of the Mediterranean arrived in Istria. Therefore, in the antique collection, one can see vases made of Egyptian alabaster, plates produced in North Africa and central Italy, amphorae and lamps from Greek islands, sculptures carved from white Greek marble or white-gray marble brought from the shores of the distant Sea of Marmara. Istria's main economic goods, exported by sea, river, and land to northern Italy and the provinces of Pannonia and Noricum, were olives and olive oil, along with amphorae, fish products, wine, wool, and white limestone suitable for construction. Smaller everyday items made of ceramics, stone, iron, and bronze, vessels, equipment, and tools useful in households and daily life were produced for local needs in craft workshops located in Istrian cities and isolated economic buildings.