Aelia Capitolina, Roman colony in Jerusalem, Israel

Aelia Capitolina was a Roman colony built on the razed ruins of Jerusalem, laid out on its earlier Hippodamian plan adapted to Roman use. It had broad colonnaded streets, arched gateways and forums serving as commercial and social hubs, and a temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount. The city was without walls, guarded by a light garrison of Legio X Fretensis.

Hadrian visited Judaea in 129/130 CE and founded the colony on Jerusalem's ruins, left desolate since the siege of 70 CE. Ancient sources disagree on its relation to the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–135 CE: Cassius Dio makes the rebuilding and the temple of Jupiter the catalyst, while Eusebius presents the colony as punishment after the defeat. Coins of Aelia struck before the revolt lead most historians to follow Dio.

The name combines Hadrian's family name Aelius and Capitolina, referencing the three main Roman deities of the Capitoline Hill. This naming was meant to emphasize the Roman character of the newly founded settlement and mark its break from Jerusalem's Jewish past.

The main north-south street, called the Cardo, featured columned sides supporting roofs and connected the city's primary gates. Visitors today can view remains of this colonnaded street in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City.

The city had no walls in the Late Roman period; it was guarded by a light garrison of Legio X Fretensis. Coins of Aelia Capitolina struck before the Bar Kokhba revolt, found in a building abandoned before the uprising and in refuge caves, are the main evidence that the colony existed before 132 CE.