Flavia Solva
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Flavia Solva was a
municipium In ancient Rome, the Latin term (pl. ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ("duty holders"), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the privi ...
in the
ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
province of
Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the Celts, Celtic kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were th ...
. It was situated on the western banks of the Mur river, close to the modern cities of
Wagna Wagna is a municipality in the district of Leibnitz in Austrian state of Styria. The ancient Roman town of Flavia Solva Flavia Solva was a municipium in the ancient Roman province of Noricum. It was situated on the western banks of the Mur riv ...
and
Leibnitz Leibnitz (Slovenian: ''Lipnica'') is a city in the Austrian state of Styria and on 1 Jan. 2017 had a population of 12,176. It is located to the south of the city of Graz, between the Mur and Sulm rivers. The town is the capital of the Leibni ...
in the southern parts of the
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n province of
Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...
. It is the only Roman city in modern Austrian Styria.


Foundation and layout

The Celto-Roman dwelling on the banks of the Mur river that should later become Flavia Solva was founded around year 15 while Noricum was still a Roman protectorate. This precursor consisted of a small cluster of wooden buildings, and did not follow a grand layout plan. It is believed that the Celtic element in its population came from the hill settlement on the nearby ''Frauenberg'' which had a tradition tracing back to neolithic ages. Very few remains from this phase have been found. Shortly after the annexation of Noricum as a Roman province, the place was made a ''municipium'' around year 70 by emperor
Vespasian Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...
who added the name of his
Flavian dynasty The Flavian dynasty ruled the Roman Empire between AD 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian (69–79), and his two sons Titus (79–81) and Domitian (81–96). The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known as ...
to the local name ''Solva'' which might have referred to the Frauenberg settlement (which remained important as a worship site for ''Isis Noreia'', a local adaptation of the
Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
cult), or to the nearby river Sulm. The construction activity that followed resulted in an almost entirely new city of stone buildings, with a layout that approximated the ideal of a Roman provincial municipium: rectangular
insulae The Latin word ''insula'' (literally meaning "island", plural ''insulae'') was used in Roman cities to mean either a city block in a city plan, i.e. a building area surrounded by four streets, or, later, a type of apartment building that occup ...
(sized about 60 by 70 meters) within a grid of broad (ca. 6 m) gravel-paved streets. Some of the apartment houses in these blocks had
hypocaust A hypocaust ( la, hypocaustum) is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm th ...
heating, similar to what is known from comparable Roman cities; however, Flavia Solva had neither an aqueduct nor canalization. The 80 x 35 m ellipsoid
amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
(apparently the only one in Noricum) consisted of wooden benches on stone foundations. The city was situated at the crossings of a Roman road connecting Poetovia (modern
Ptuj Ptuj (; german: Pettau, ; la, Poetovium/Poetovio) is a town in northeastern Slovenia that is the seat of the Municipality of Ptuj. Ptuj, the oldest recorded city in Slovenia, has been inhabited since the late Stone Age and developed from a Roman ...
in
Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
) to Ovilava (modern
Wels Wels (; Central Bavarian: ''Wös'') is a city in Upper Austria, on the Traun River near Linz. It is the county seat of Wels-Land, and with a population of approximately 60,000, the eighth largest city in Austria. Geography Wels is in the H ...
) and the
Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
in
Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, a ...
with a minor trade route connecting the administrative center at
Virunum Claudium Virunum was a Roman city in the province of Noricum, on today's Zollfeld in the Austrian State of Carinthia. Virunum may also have been the name of the older Celtic-Roman settlement on the hilltop of Magdalensberg nearby. Virunum (''Viru ...
in the Carinthian basin across the
Koralpe The Koralpe ( en, Kor Alps, sl, Golica or ), also referred to as ''Koralm'', is a mountain range in southern Austria which separates eastern Carinthia (state), Carinthia from southern Styria. The southern parts of the range extend into Slovenia. ...
and through the Sulm valley to
Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...
. However, the wealth of Flavia Solva seems to have been derived more from agriculture than from trade, and was relatively modest. In the Roman sources known to today's historians the city is mentioned only once, in
Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
's ''
Naturalis historia The ''Natural History'' ( la, Naturalis historia) is a work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the ''Natural History'' compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. ...
'' (Vol. 3, chapter 24, 146).


Role in Roman administration

The administrative district of Flavia Solva covered much of what today is central
Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...
. Its approximate borders probably were the
Eisenerz Eisenerz (; "Iron ore") is a market place and old mining town in the Austrian state of Styria, . N.W. of Graz by rail. Pop. (2001) 6,400. It is situated in the deep Erzbach Valley, dominated on the east by the Pfaffenstein , on the west by the ...
mountains in the North, the
Koralpe The Koralpe ( en, Kor Alps, sl, Golica or ), also referred to as ''Koralm'', is a mountain range in southern Austria which separates eastern Carinthia (state), Carinthia from southern Styria. The southern parts of the range extend into Slovenia. ...
in the West, the river Drau in the South, and the river
Lafnitz Lafnitz () is a municipality in the district of Hartberg-Fürstenfeld in Styria, Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps ...
in the East. In spite of its important local role, the city was never fortified.


Destructions, decline, and rediscovery

Flavia Solva and its surroundings had developed a modest degree of provincial luxury, with the
villa rustica Villa rustica () was the term used by the ancient Romans to denote a farmhouse or villa set in the countryside and with an agricultural section, which applies to the vast majority of Roman villas. In some cases they were at the centre of a large ...
as the typical form of aristocratic countryside residence and agricultural cultivation, when its peaceful development was ended by its first destruction in 166. At this time the
Marcomanni The Marcomanni were a Germanic people * * * that established a powerful kingdom north of the Danube, somewhere near modern Bohemia, during the peak of power of the nearby Roman Empire. According to Tacitus and Strabo, they were Suebian. Origin ...
breached the Danube
limes Limes may refer to: * the plural form of lime (disambiguation) * the Latin word for ''limit'' which refers to: ** Limes (Roman Empire) (Latin, singular; plural: ) is a modern term used primarily for the Germanic border defence or delimiting ...
between the fortifications of
Vindobona Vindobona (from Gaulish ''windo-'' "white" and ''bona'' "base/bottom") was a Roman military camp on the site of the modern city of Vienna in Austria. The settlement area took on a new name in the 13th century, being changed to Berghof, or now si ...
(modern
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
) and
Carnuntum Carnuntum ( according to Ptolemy) was a Roman legionary fortress ( la, castra legionis) and headquarters of the Roman navy, Pannonian fleet from 50 AD. After the 1st century, it was capital of the Pannonia Superior province. It also became ...
, penetrated northwestern
Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...
and eastern
Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the Celts, Celtic kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were th ...
using the Roman road system tracing the ancient
Amber Road The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Prehistoric trade routes between Northern and Southern Europe were defined by the amber trade. ...
along the eastern fringe of the Alps, and could be stopped by emperor
Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...
's hastily assembled militia only shortly before reaching
Aquileia Aquileia / / / / ;Bilingual name of ''Aquileja – Oglej'' in: vec, Aquiłeja / ; Slovenian: ''Oglej''), group=pron is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river N ...
. Flavia Solva was rebuilt (though originally much smaller) under Marcus Aurelius's son and successor
Commodus Commodus (; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination. ...
, and flourished again a few decades later. By the early 3rd century, the city had a well-organized public fire brigade as evidenced by the ''Tabula Centonariorum'' membership list dating from 205. Flavia Solva lost much of its importance during the late 4th century when the region suffered more incursions. The city was destroyed again in 405 (most probably during the Germanic invasion of Italy by
Radagaisus Radagaisus (died 23 August 406) was a Gothic king who led an invasion of Roman Italy in late 405 and the first half of 406.Peter Heather, ''The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians'', 2nd ed. 2006:194; A committed Pa ...
), but some isolated finds referring to emperor
Marcian Marcian (; la, Marcianus, link=no; grc-gre, Μαρκιανός, link=no ; 392 – 27 January 457) was Roman emperor of the East from 450 to 457. Very little of his life before becoming emperor is known, other than that he was a (personal as ...
suggest that a residual settlement must have remained at least until the 450s. At this time, most of the remaining population had moved back uphill to the ''Frauenberg'' where they established a new fortified settlement. The associated cemetery, which was identified only in the 1990s, is the largest from this latest Roman times known to exist in the eastern Alpine region. The ruins of Flavia Solva were still a landmark during the Middle Ages although its origins were long forgotten, and they served the population as convenient quarries for construction material. The
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
period, and later on
Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
, precipitated renewed interest in Roman history. During the 19th century, many gravestones and a considerable amount of stone artwork was incorporated in the nearby
Schloss Seggau Schloss Seggau is a castle situated in the locality Seggauberg in southern Styria, Austria. It is located on a wooded hill overlooking the town of Leibnitz. Schloss Seggau is situated at a height of . History The area around Schloss Seggau ...
where they can still be seen. However, it was not until 1845 that
Richard Knabl Richard Knabl (24 October 1789, in Graz, Styria – 19 June 1874) was an Austrian parish priest and epigraphist who, though he lacked formal academic training as a historian, became a prominent contributor to our current knowledge of the Roman per ...
, a local parish priest and amateur historian, identified the site near the modern city of
Leibnitz Leibnitz (Slovenian: ''Lipnica'') is a city in the Austrian state of Styria and on 1 Jan. 2017 had a population of 12,176. It is located to the south of the city of Graz, between the Mur and Sulm rivers. The town is the capital of the Leibni ...
as the remains of Flavia Solva.


Modern excavations

Flavia Solva has been a major focus for Austrian archaeology since the early 20th century; unfortunately (but typically) because construction activity constantly precipitated emergency digs. Road construction, the expansion of nearby
Wagna Wagna is a municipality in the district of Leibnitz in Austrian state of Styria. The ancient Roman town of Flavia Solva Flavia Solva was a municipium in the ancient Roman province of Noricum. It was situated on the western banks of the Mur riv ...
, and a sewage trench that was dug across the site in the 1970s have caused much irretrievable damage. Over the decades, an area of 650 x 600 m (comprising about 40 insulae) has been excavated to some degree, although much of the finds are not visible today because the areas were reclaimed for agriculture or buried under modern buildings. A considerable piece of land which geoprospection has shown to harbor ruins has been placed under government protection. However, the full extent of the ancient city is still unknown. A bone
flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
with three finger holes, presumably a shepherd's instrument, was excavated in such a well-preserved state that it can be played today. The Styrian exhibition of 2004 had its focus on Flavia Solva. The Joanneum at
Wagna Wagna is a municipality in the district of Leibnitz in Austrian state of Styria. The ancient Roman town of Flavia Solva Flavia Solva was a municipium in the ancient Roman province of Noricum. It was situated on the western banks of the Mur riv ...
maintains a permanent exhibition.


References

* Pleyel P, Das römische Österreich. Geschichte Österreichs, Band I. Pichler Verlag, Wien (2002). * Hesch O, Wanderwege in die Antike. Auf Spurensuche in und um Flavia Solva. Styria Verlag, Wien (2004). * Pelzl B (ed.), Die Römer 2004. Interessantus est: Bilder einer Ausstellung. Manumedia Schnider Verlag, Graz (2004).


External links


From Flavia Solva to Wagna




ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080626024951/http://www.oeai.at/inland/solva.html Archived
Combined High Resolution Magnetics and GPR Surveys of the Roman Town Flavia Solva

The Joanneum - Flavia Solva
{{Authority control Roman towns and cities in Austria Geography of Styria Noricum Archaeological sites in Austria