Sopron was the Roman town of Scarbantia, an important settlement on the Amber Road that connected the Baltic to the Mediterranean. The town was founded in the 1st century AD and remained significant until the late Roman period. Remains of Scarbantia are visible at several points beneath the old town — the most accessible is the excavated forum, visible through glass panels in the pavement on Fő Tér.
The Fabricius House museum on Fő Tér has the best collection of Roman stonework from the site: tombstones, altars, architectural fragments, and a good display on the layout of the Roman town. The city walls that medieval Sopron built largely follow the line of the Roman fortifications, so walking the inner ring road is in some sense following a path first established nearly two thousand years ago.