Carnuntum: Flight over the "Heathens` Gate" and
Roman amphitheater
Carnuntum, most important ancient Roman settlement in Austria.
Situated in the area between present-day Petronell-Carnuntum and Bad
Deutsch-Altenburg (Lower Austria). The name C. was taken over from a
pre-Roman settlement. C. is mentioned in the works of Velleius
Paterculus, Pliny the Elder, the astronomer Ptolemaios, in the
"Meditations" of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (the 3rd book of which he
wrote at C.), in the vita of Septimius Severus, in the works of
Ammianus Marcellinus and many other texts of late Antiquity,
the Tabula Peutingeriana, Itinerarium
Antonini and the Notitia Dignitatum. The oldest archaeological finds
from the area of the military camp date from the middle of the 1st
century A.D. The civilian town of C. became the capital of the province
under Emperor Trajan (98-117 A.D.) (Pannonia) as well as seat of the
governor; Emperor Hadrian (117-138 A.D.) made it an independent town,
Municipium Aelium C., and Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211 A.D.), who
was proclaimed emperor at C., gave it the status of a Colonia. In late
Antiquity a legion and a Danube fleet were stationed at C. and an
emperors´ conference was held there 307 or 308 A.D. Around 350 A.D. an
earthquake caused serious damage and marked the beginning its decline.
Under Emperor Valentinian I Carnuntum served as headquarters in the war
against the Quadi and Sarmatians in 375.
Military area:
The military camp was situated between
today's Petronell and Bad Deutsch-Altenburg, in the shape of an
irregular polygon 490 m in length and between 334 m and 391 m in width,
its front side, which faced the Danube, has been swept away by the
river. To the west lies a minor camp for supporting troops. The town
situated before the camp (canabae legionis) had its own forum, thermal
baths and an amphitheatre for 8,000 people; a temple district where
oriental deities were worshipped was discovered during the excavation
works.
Civilian area:
The large thermal baths were what is now
called the palace ruin, which was adapted for representative purposes
around 300. The amphitheatre close to the Heidentor had a seating
capacity of 13,000. The hypothesis claiming that the buildings at the
southern portal were an early Christian church and baptistry remains
unproven. Today two Roman aqueducts still carry water; they were made of
bricks and it was even possible to walk in them. A temple district for
the Roman state cult, monuments for the worship of the emperors Hadrian
and Marcus Aurelius, a cult theatre, numerous altars and inscriptions
were built on top of the Pfaffenberg hill. Finds are exhibited in the
newly designed Museum Carnuntinum; archaeological park; Festival Art
Carnuntum
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