In the second millennium BC, the Nuragic peoples of Nora came into contact with Greek, Mycenaean and Phoenician merchants. Later, the ancient Phoenician Emporium of Nora became a Punic colony of Carthage. Finally, the Roman conquest brought a greater influx of people from all over the Italian peninsula.
Roman Nora stretched over the whole peninsula of Capo di Pula: the suburban district was situated in the sector closest to the isthmus, while in the central part of the promontory stood the most important public and private buildings. The city aqueduct’s, on the other hand, came from further away, and was probably built between the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 3rd century AD, the period of maximum building development in the ancient city, when the main thermal baths were also built. The urban road system was well defined and developed, with streets paved with andesitic stone paving stones. The roads appear to have been only pedestrian in the urban sector, while traces of cart tracks have been identified in the suburbs.