Carnuntum ( according to

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

) was a

Roman legion The Roman legion (, ) was the largest military List of military legions, unit of the Roman army, composed of Roman citizenship, Roman citizens serving as legionary, legionaries. During the Roman Republic the manipular legion comprised 4,200 i ...

ary fortress () and headquarters of the Pannonian fleet from 50 AD. After the 1st century, it was capital of the

Pannonia Superior Pannonia Superior () was a Roman province created from the division of Pannonia in 103 AD, its capital in Carnuntum. It overlapped in territory with modern-day Hungary, Croatia, Austria, Slovakia, and Slovenia. History It was as governor of the ...

province. It also became a large city of approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Its impressive remains are situated on the Danube in

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

halfway between

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

in the Carnuntum Archaeological Park extending over an area of 10 km² near today's villages of Petronell-Carnuntum and Bad Deutsch-Altenburg.

History

Military history

Carnuntum first occurs in history during the reign of

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

(6 AD), when

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

made it his base of operations as a Roman fort () in the campaigns against

Maroboduus Maroboduus (d. AD 37), also known as Marbod, was a king of the Marcomanni, who were a Germanic Suebian people. He spent part of his youth in Rome, and returning, found his people under pressure from invasions by the Roman Empire between the Rhi ...

(Marbod).

Legio XV

Significant Romanisation happened when the town was selected as the garrison of the Legio XV before 14 AD. A few years later, it became the centre of the Roman fortifications along the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

from

Vindobona Vindobona (; from Gaulish ''windo-'' "white" and ''bona'' "base/bottom") was a Roman military camp (or ) in the province of Pannonia, located on the site of the modern city of Vienna in Austria. The settlement area took on a new name in the 13 ...

(now

) to Brigetio ( Ó-Szőny). According to

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

, the emperor

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

ordered the governor of Pannonia "to have a legion with an

auxilia The (; ) were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen Roman legion, legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 27 BC. By the 2nd century, the contained the same number of infantry as the ...

ry on the bank of the Danube" to protect the losers of a dispute between Germanic tribes (the

Quadi The Quadi were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people during the Roman era, who were prominent in Greek and Roman records from about 20 AD to about 400 AD. By about 20 AD they had a kingdom centred in the area of present-day western Slovakia, north ...

and

Marcomanni The Marcomanni were a Germanic people who lived close to the border of the Roman Empire, north of the River Danube, and are mentioned in Roman records from approximately 60 BC until about 400 AD. They were one of the most important members of th ...

) and deter the victors from the temptation to invade Pannonia. To this period (about 50 AD) belongs the auxiliary of a cavalry 1.5 km south-west of the legionary fortress. In 71 AD, after several campaigns, the Legio XV ''Apollinaris'' returned to Carnuntum and rebuilt its fortress. While some of the legion fought in Trajan's Dacian Wars, the main body of the legion remained in Pannonia.

Legio X

Legio X was sent to Carnuntum for a few years from about 63 AD. During the brief reign of Galba (68–69), it was transferred back to Hispania.

Legio VII

Legio VII , newly founded by Galba in 68 AD, was allocated to Carnuntum until about 71 AD after his defeat by

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

Legio XIV

In 117–118 AD, Carnuntum became the permanent quarters of Legio XIV where it stayed for three centuries until the frontier collapsed in 430.

History of the city

In Roman times, Carnuntum had a history as a major trading centre for

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

, brought from the north to traders who sold it in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

; the main arm of the

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. ...

crossed the Danube at Carnuntum. As , the capital of

, it was made a by Hadrian. Its importance is indicated by the fact that

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

resided there for three years (172–175) during the war against the

, and wrote part of his ''

Meditations ''Meditations'' () is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161–180 AD, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. Composition Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the ''Meditations'' i ...

'' there. Also

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...

, at the time governor of Pannonia, was proclaimed emperor there by his soldiers (193), to replace Emperor

Pertinax Publius Helvius Pertinax ( ; 1 August 126 – 28 March 193) was Roman emperor for the first three months of 193. He succeeded Commodus to become the first emperor during the tumultuous Year of the Five Emperors. Born to the son of a freed sl ...

, who had been murdered. In the

Severan dynasty The Severan dynasty, sometimes called the Septimian dynasty, ruled the Roman Empire between 193 and 235. It was founded by the emperor Septimius Severus () and Julia Domna, his wife, when Septimius emerged victorious from civil war of 193 - 197, ...

(193–235), Carnuntum experienced an economic boom, the reaching their maximum size.

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname Caracalla (; ), was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father and then r ...

elevated it to status as . He was killed shortly afterwards by his own soldiers, probably at Carnuntum. In 308, during the Civil wars of the Tetrarchy, the Emperor emeritus

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

chaired a historic meeting there, the Conference of Carnuntum, with his co-emperors

Maximian Maximian (; ), nicknamed Herculius, was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar (title), Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocleti ...

and

Galerius Galerius Valerius Maximianus (; Greek: Γαλέριος; 258 – May 311) was Roman emperor from 305 to 311. He participated in the system of government later known as the Tetrarchy, first acting as '' caesar'' under Emperor Diocletian. In th ...

, to solve the rising tensions within the

tetrarchy The Tetrarchy was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the ''augusti'', and their junior colleagues and designated successors, the ''caesares''. I ...

. Around 350 Carnuntum suffered severe earthquake damage. In 374, it was destroyed by Germanic invaders, the

and

Iazyges The Iazyges () were an ancient Sarmatians, Sarmatian tribe that traveled westward in 200BC from Central Asia to the steppes of modern Ukraine. In , they moved into modern-day Hungary and Serbia near the Pannonian steppe between the Danube ...

. Although partly restored by

Valentinian I Valentinian I (; 32117 November 375), also known as Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. He ruled the Western Roman Empire, Western half of the empire, while his brother Valens ruled the Byzantine Empire, East. During his re ...

, it never regained its former importance, and

became the chief military centre. During the

Barbarian Invasions The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...

, Carnuntum was eventually abandoned and used as a cemetery and source of building material for building projects elsewhere. Eventually, its remains became buried and forgotten. Claudio 41 - 54dC jpg

Today

The Archaeological Park Carnuntum comprises three sites: * Museum, Heidentor and

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) 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 ('), meani ...

near Petronell * Excavations in the garden of Petronell Castle * Museum Carnuntinum

Civilian city

The remains of the civilian city extend around the village Petronell-Carnuntum. There are several places to see in the city: Roman city quarter in the open-air museum, palace ruins,

, and Heidentor. The Roman city ruins are exposed in the open-air museum directly in the present village. One of the ancient houses, called the House of Lucius, has been rebuilt using traditional techniques. It was opened to the public on 1 June 2006. The was next to the palace ruins, also referred to as the large public baths. Some way outside the city was a large amphitheatre, which had room for about 15,000 spectators. A plate with an inscription found at the site claims that this building was the fourth largest amphitheatre in the whole Roman Empire.

Heidentor

Between 354 AD and 361 AD, a huge triumphal monument was erected next to the camp and city. Contemporary reports suggest that Emperor

Constantius II Constantius II (; ; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civ ...

had it built to commemorate his victories. When the remains of Carnuntum disappeared after the Migration Period the monument remained as an isolated building in a natural landscape and led Medieval people to believe it was the tomb of a pagan giant. Hence, they called it ('Heathens' Gate' or 'Pagans' Gate').

Fortress

Ancient Roman amphitheatre in Bad Deutsch-Altenburg

The only remaining building of the fortress is an amphitheatre, located just outside the fortress. Today, a small adjacent museum shows the history of

gladiator A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

Culture

The World Theatre Festival Art Carnumtum () is held each year in the ancient amphitheatre. Art Carnuntum is a cultural organisation that aims support the cultural and philosophical heritage of Europe and promotes classical drama in both traditional and contemporary styles. The festival was founded around 1988 by the italian artist Piero Bordin, who died suddenly in March 2021. Since 2021 Constantina Bordin is the new artistic director. Collaborators from Greece include Irini Pappas, Michalis Kakogianis, and Theodoros Terzopoulus, and the popular festival has become known as an international centre for ancient drama as well as European classical and modern music. The festival was held in August in 2021.

Gladiator school

In September 2011 aerial photographs and ground-penetrating radar led to the discovery of the typical contours of an ancient Roman gladiator school to the south of the Roman settlement, a rivaling the Ludus Magnus school and covering an area of some . This approach of aerial photography and modern remote sensing has allowed for a detailed virtual recreation of the gladiator school. The aerial photographs used in the recreation were acquired with a radio-controlled Microdrone md4-1000 quadrocopter, which captured a sufficient number of photographs to create an overlap among them. Then, using a technique called '' structure from motion (SfM)'', a 3D model of the school was calculated using the sharpest images. The school, along with the amphitheater, was located outside of the town's walls. The school had training grounds, bathing facilities, an assembly hall and dormitories for the gladiators. The school also had a courtyard which housed a training area for gladiators. The school was attached to an open campus which was most likely used for chariot races..

Museum Carnuntinum

The archaeological museum Carnuntinum, which is situated in the village of Bad Deutsch-Altenburg on the river

, exhibits important archeological finds from the ancient city.

In fiction

Völkisch author

Guido von List Guido Karl Anton List (5 October 1848 – 17 May 1919), better known as Guido von List, was an Austrian occultist, journalist, playwright, and novelist. He expounded a modern Pagan new religious movement known as Wotanism, which he claimed w ...

was so impressed with the ruins that he based his first novel, ''Carnuntum'', on the subject. Another novel, '' Household Gods'', by

Harry Turtledove Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed his ...

and Judith Tarr, is set in Carnuntum during the reign of

, from the point of view of a modern American time traveler. In Frank Tallis's crime novel ''Vienna Blood'', both Guido von List and his novel ''Carnuntum'' appear, together with an eponymous opera based on the novel.

Gallery

File:Carnuntum Palace Ruins.jpg, The palace ruins near Petronell File:Petronell - Heidentor (3).JPG, Heidentor (so-called Heathens' Gate) File:Modell Carnuntum 8 Zivilstadt.jpg, Scale Model of Carnuntum in Roman times File:Modell Carnuntum 5 Amphitheater.jpg, Scale Model of Carnuntum in Roman times (amphitheatre and region outside city walls) File:Grabstein Titus Calidius Carnuntum.jpg, Tombstone of Titus Calidius Severus,

centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...

of the Fifteenth Legion, depicting a horse, centurion's helmet and armour, found in Carnuntum File:Jupiter dolichenus 3rd century Carnuntum.jpg, Statue of the god Jupiter Dolichenus File:Carnuntum_thermae_2011a.jpg, Reconstructed Thermae

References

External links

Archaeological Park Carnuntum
{{Authority control AD 6 establishments 0s establishments in the Roman Empire 374 disestablishments 370s disestablishments in the Roman Empire Populated places established in the 1st century Populated places disestablished in the 4th century Roman towns and cities in Austria Archaeological sites in Austria Former populated places in Austria Geography of Lower Austria Buildings and structures in Lower Austria Archaeological parks Roman amphitheatres Roman legionary fortresses in Austria Roman fortifications in Pannonia Superior Tiberius Quadi Populated places in Pannonia