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| Vindobona | |
|---|---|
| Vienna in Austria | |
 The excavated ruins of Vindobona on the Michaelerplatz | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Roman fortification |
| Location | |
 | |
| Map of the Romancastrum of Vindobona in 250–300 | |
  Vindobona  Vindobona | |
| Coordinates | 48°12′39″N16°22′13″E / 48.21083°N 16.37028°E /48.21083; 16.37028 |
| Site history | |
| Built | c. 100 (100) |
| In use | 103–433 (433)[1] |
| Fate | Abandoned to the Huns |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | XGemina |
| Designations | |
| Part of | Frontiers of the Roman Empire – The Danube Limes (Western Segment) |
| Criteria | Cultural: ii, iii, iv |
| Reference | 1608bis-066 |
| Inscription | 2021 (44thSession) |
Vindobona (Latin pronunciation:[wɪnˈdɔbɔna]; fromGaulishwindo- "white" andbona "base/bottom") was aRoman military camp (orcastra) in the province ofPannonia, located on the site of the modern city ofVienna inAustria. The settlement area took on a new name in the 13th century, being changed to Berghof, or now simply known asAlter Berghof (the Old Berghof).[2]
Around 1 AD, the kingdom ofNoricum was included in theRoman Empire. Henceforth, theDanube marked the border of the empire, and the Romans built fortifications and settlements on the banks of the Danube, including Vindobona with an estimated population of 15,000 to 20,000.[3][4]
Early references to Vindobona are made by the geographerPtolemy in hisGeographica and the historianAurelius Victor, who recounts that emperorMarcus Aurelius died in Vindobona on 17 March 180 from an unknown illness while on a military campaign against invading Germanic tribes. Today, there is aMarc-Aurelstraße (English: Marcus Aurelius street) near the Hoher Markt in Vienna. However,Tertullian'sApologeticum places Marcus Aurelius' death atSirmium (province ofPannonia Inferior, modernSremska Mitrovica).
It is possible that Vindobona as alegionary fortress was built around the year 100, since the oldest excavated building inscriptions date from 103.[5]
Vindobona was part of the Roman province ofPannonia, whose regional administrative centre wasCarnuntum. Vindobona was a military camp contiguous to the civilian city ofCanabae. The military complex covered some 20 hectares, housing about 6000 men, where Vienna's first district now stands. The Danube marked the border of the Roman Empire, and Vindobona was part of a defensive network including the camps ofCarnuntum,Brigetio andAquincum. By the time of EmperorCommodus, four legions (X Gemina,XIV Gemina Martia Victrix,I Adiutrix andII Adiutrix) were stationed in Pannonia.[6]
Vindobona was provisioned by the surrounding Roman country estates (Villae rusticae).A centre of trade with a developed infrastructure as well as agriculture and forestry developed around the town. Communities developed outside the fortifications (canabae legionis), as well another community independent of the military authorities in today's third district.[citation needed] A Germanic marketplace settlement faced Vindobona on the far side of the Danube from the second century onwards.[citation needed]
The uncharacteristically asymmetrical layout of the military camp is still recognisable in Vienna's street plan: Graben, Naglergasse, Tiefer Graben, Salzgries, Rabensteig, Rotenturmstraße. The oblique camp border along today's Salzgries Street was probably caused by a great flood of theDanube during the 3rd century whicheroded a considerable part of the camp.[7] The name “Graben” (ditch) is believed to recall the defensive ditches of the military camp. (It is thought that at least parts of the walls still stood in the Middle Ages, when these streets were laid out, and thus determined their routes.) The Berghof was later erected in one corner of the camp.
Rebuilt after Germanic invasions in the second century, the town remained a seat of Roman government through the third and fourth centuries.[8][9] The population fled after the Huns invaded Pannonia in the 430s and the settlement was abandoned for several centuries.[10][11]
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Remains of the Roman military camp have been found at many sites in the centre of Vienna. The centre of the Michaelerplatz has been widely investigated by archaeologists. Here, traces of a Roman legionary outpost (canabae legionis) and of a crossroad have been found.[12] The centrepiece of the current design of the square is arectangular opening that evokes the archaeological excavations at the site and shows wall remains that have been preserved from different epochs.
Part of a Roman canal system is underneath the fire station am Hof.[13]
Directly under the Hoher Markt are the remains of two buildings unearthed during the canalisation works of 1948/49 and made accessible to the public. After further excavation, a showroom was opened in 1961. For this purpose some of the original walls had to be removed; white marks on the floor show the spots where.[citation needed] The buildings, which are separated from one another by a road, housed an officer and his family.[citation needed] In 2008 this Roman ruins exhibit was expanded into theMuseum of the Romans.[14] Only a small portion can today be seen, for the majority of the remains are still located underneath the square and south of it.
The remains of the walls date from different phases from the 1st to the 5th century AD. The houses were typical Roman villas, with living quarters and space for working set around a middle courtyard with columned halls.[15]
During drillings for the U5 underground line, new brick kiln and metal smelting sites were discovered that revealed further reaching suburbs of the ancient Roman settlement.[16]
Over 3,000 stamped bricks, several stone monuments and written sources prove that several legions, cavalry units and marines were stationed in Vindobona. Around 97 AD,Legio XIII Gemina was responsible for construction of the legionary camps. Because of the wars in Dacia, they were pulled out and redeployed in 101 AD. A decade later, Legio XIIII Gemina Martia Victrix followed.Legio X Gemina from Aquincum arrived in 114 AD and remained in Vindobona until the 5th century.[citation needed]
About 6,000 soldiers were stationed in the Roman camp.[citation needed] Many of them were free from active duty during peaceful times and had other jobs.[citation needed] These so-calledimmunes were needed for the supply of goods and for the production and maintenance of weapons and commodities. They also extracted stone from quarries and wood from forests, produced bricks, and maintained the streets, bridges and the water system. Administrating the camp and ensuring its security required additional manpower.
TheRomans provided their cities, including Vindobona, with cleanpotable water through an elaborate systems ofRoman aqueducts,canals, and largesubterraneanpipes. Excavations have revealed that Vindobona received its supply through a 17 km long water pipeline.[citation needed] The source is in theVienna Woods around today'sKalksburg. Wells,latrines and thethermae were supplied with water. Central buildings such as the commander's office and the hospital had their own supplies, as did the settlement outside the camp, where households had their owngroundwaterwells.[citation needed]
Archaeological excavations done over the last 100 years have discovered the following Romanwater supply fragment locations:
Waste from the Roman camp was transported through an elaborate subterraneansewerage system that was planned from the beginning. The sewers were lined withbrick walls and plates and ran beneath the main roads.Gradients were used in such a way that the waste water descended through the canals into theRiver Danube. Since the canals were up to two meters deep, they could be cleaned out regularly. Large waste was probably deposed at the slope of the river. In the civilian settlement, waste was deposed in formerwater wells and dumps.[citation needed]
The layout of a Roman camp (castra) was normally standardised. This has helped archaeologists to reconstruct what the camp must have looked like, despite the heavy rebuilding that has taken place in Vienna throughout the centuries. The basic contours of the camp, which was surrounded by a mighty wall with towers and three moats (today the Tiefer Graben, Naglergasse, Graben, and Rotenturmstraße) are identifiable. Along these axes, main roads connected the gates with one other. The main buildings were the commander's headquarters, the Palace of the Legate, the houses of the staff officers, and the thermae. At right angles to these, the soldiers' accommodation, a hospital, workshops, and mews (stables) were constructed.[citation needed]
The train connectingPrague and Vienna, currently operated byCzech Railways andOBB usingRailjet trainsets is calledVindobona.
'...at the start of AD 193...On 13 April, the legions of Pannonia - the 10th Gemina and 14th Gemina Martia Victrix in his own province, and the 1st and 2nd Adiutrix legions from neighbouring Lower Pannonia...'
'By the end of the third century Vindobona had become a municipal town, and being the seat of the Roman civil and military government, continued to flourish until the invasion of the Huns in the 5th century.'
'Vindobona was destroyed suring the Germanic invasions of the latter part of the second century and was rebuilt after those invasions were finally repelled, but the Roman era had had its peak....by 180...Roman order was restored to Pannonia. But it was a tenuous order, holding doggedly on for another two centuries until the final withdrawal of the Roman troops and destruction of Vindobona in the early fifth century.'
'Vindobona ... continued to flourish until the invasion of the Huns in the 5th century. From that date the Roman Vindobona disappears from the history until the year 791.'
'...Consequently, Vindobona became increasingly depopulated over the course of the first half of the 5th century. The present state of research indicated that the definite end of the settlement within the old fortress occurred during the 430s AD, when the Huns finally seized control of the province of Pannonia...The intramural area of Vindobona has provided no evidence of settlement activity from the mid 5th century through until at least the 9th century.'
