Vindobona

Vindobona (from Gaulish windo- "white" and bona "base/background") was a Roman military camp in the province of Pannonia, located in the site of the modern city of Vienna in Austria. The settlement area acquired the new name of Berghof in the 13th century, which is now known as Alter Berghof (the Old Berghof).

Around the year 15 BC. C., the kingdom of Noricum became part of the Roman Empire, and from then on, the Danube marked the border of the empire. The Romans built fortifications and settlements on the banks of the river, including Vindobona, which had an estimated population of 15,000 to 20,000 inhabitants.

History

The first references to Vindobona were the work of the geographer Ptolemy in his Geography and the historian Aurelius Victor, who reported that the emperor Marcus Aurelius died in Vindobona on March 17, 180 of an unknown illness during a military campaign against invading Germanic tribes.. Today there is a street named after him ( Marc-Aurelstraße , «Marcus Aurelius Street») near the Vienna Hoher Markt.

Vindobona was part of the Roman province of Pannonia, whose regional administrative center was Carnuntum. Vindobona was a military camp with an attached civilian city, the canabae legionis. The military complex covered an area of about 20 hectares and housed 6,000 men where the first district of Vienna is now located. The Danube marked the border of the Roman Empire, and Vindobona was part of a defensive network that included the camps of Carnuntum, Brigetio and Aquincum. In the time of Emperor Commodus, four legions—X Gemina, XIV Gemina Martia Victrix, I Adiutrix, and II Adiutrix—were stationed in Pannonia.

Vindobona was supplied from the neighboring Roman villas (villae rusticae). A trade center with a developed infrastructure, as well as agriculture and forestry, was established around Vindobona. Civic communities developed outside the fortifications (canabae legionis), as well as another community that was independent of the military authorities in the current third district.^{[citation needed]} It has also been shown that a Germanic settlement with a large market existed on the other side of the Danube since the II century< /span> onwards.^{[citation required]}.

The asymmetrical layout of the military camp, which was unusual for rectangular Roman camps, is still recognizable on the street plan of Vienna: Graben, Naglergasse, Tiefer Graben, Salzgries, Rabensteig, Rotenturmstraße. The oblique border along Salzgries Street probably has its origins in a major flood of the Danube during the III century that eroded a large part of the camp. It is believed that the name "Graben" (German: ditch) dates back to the camp's defensive ditches. It is believed that at least parts of the walls still remained in the Middle Ages, when these streets were laid out, and thus determined their routes. The Berghof was later erected in a corner of the camp.

The city was rebuilt after the Germanic invasions of the II century, and remained the seat of Roman government throughout the centuries. third and fourth. The population fled when the Huns invaded Pannonia in the 430s and the settlement was abandoned for several centuries.

Evidence of the Roman presence in Vindobona

Archaeological remains

Remains of the Roman military camp have been found at many sites in the center of Vienna. The center of Michaelerplatz has been the subject of extensive archaeological investigations in which traces of a Roman legionary outpost (canabae legionis) and a crossroads have been found. The shape of the plaza's current design is a rectangular opening that evokes archaeological excavations at the site and displays remains of walls that have been preserved from different eras.

Under the Am Hof fire station lies part of a Roman canal system.

Directly under the Hoher Markt are the remains of two buildings unearthed during the canalization work of 1948-49 and made accessible to the public. After further excavation, an exhibition hall was opened in 1961. For this purpose, some of the original walls had to be removed; white marks on the floor show where they were.^{[citation needed]} In 2008, this exhibition of Roman ruins was expanded to form the Museum of the Romans. Only a small portion can be seen today, since most of the remains are still found under the plaza and to the south of it.

The remains of walls date from different phases of the century I to V d. C. The houses were typical Roman villas, with living rooms and spaces dedicated to work located around a middle patio with colonnaded rooms.

Evidence of Roman military presence

More than 3,000 stamped bricks, several stone monuments and written sources demonstrate that several legions, cavalry units and marines were stationed in Vindobona. Around the year 97, Legio XIII Gemina built legionary camps. Due to the wars in Dacia, they were withdrawn and redeployed in the year 101, followed a decade later by the Legio XIV Gemina Martia Victrix. In 114 Aquincum's Legio X Gemina arrived and remained in Vindobona until the 5th century.

About 6,000 soldiers were stationed in the Roman camp.^{[citation needed]} Many of them were on leave from active service during peacetime and held other jobs. ^{[citation needed]} These immunes (as they were known) were necessary for the supply of goods and for the production and maintenance of weapons and products basics. They also extracted stone from quarries and wood from forests, produced bricks, and maintained streets, bridges, and the aqueduct system. Administration of the camp and its security required additional manpower.

Roman sewers

The Romans provided their cities, including Vindobona, with drinking water through an elaborate system of aqueducts, canals and large underground pipes. Excavations have revealed that Vindobona received its water supply through a 17 km long pipeline whose source lay in the Vienna Woods around Kalksburg. Wells, latrines and hot springs also received water. Main buildings such as the commander's headquarters and the hospital were supplied independently, as was the settlement outside the camp, where households had their own groundwater wells.^{[citation needed]< /sup>}

Archaeological excavations over the past 100 years have uncovered fragments of the Roman water supply in the following locations:

• In Zemlinskygasse: Numbers 2-4 - (district 23, 1924)
• In Breitenfurter Straße: Number 422 - (distrito 23, 1959)
• In Rudolf Zeller-Gasse/Anton-Krieger-Gasse - (district 23, 1992)
• In Atzgersdorf - (district 23, 1902–1907)
• In Tullnertalgasse: Number 76 - (distrito 23, 1973)
• In Lainergasse: Number 1 - (district 23, 1958)
• In Wundtgasse - (district 12, 1951)
• At Rosenhügelstraße: Number 88 - (district 12, 1926)
• In Fasangartenstraße: Number 49 - (district 12, 1916)
• In Pacassistraße - (distrito 13, 1928)
• In Sechshauserstraße: Number 7 - (Distrito 15, 1879 - towards the first district)

Waste from the Roman camp was transported through an elaborate underground sewage system that was planned from the beginning. The sewers were lined with brick and plate walls, and ran beneath the main roadways. Gradients were used in such a way that the wastewater descended through the canals to the Danube. Because the canals were up to two meters deep, they could be cleaned regularly. Large debris was probably deposited on the river slope. In the civil settlement, waste was deposited in old water wells and landfills.^{[citation needed]}

Legacy on modern streets

The layout of a Roman camp (castra) was normally standardized. This helped archaeologists reconstruct the camp as it must have been, despite the construction that has taken place in Vienna over the centuries. The basic outline of the camp can be identified, which was surrounded by a solid wall with towers and three moats (today the Tiefer Graben, Naglergasse, Graben, and Rotenturmstraße). Along these axes, main roads connected the gates to each other. The main buildings were the praetorium, the legate's palace, the tribunes' houses, and the baths. On the sides of these buildings were the barracks for soldiers and centurions, a valetudinarium or hospital, workshops, granaries and stables.^{[citation required]}

In popular culture

• In the American film Gladiator (2000), Maximum (Russell Crowe) fights in the battle of Vindobona under the command of Marco Aurelio (Richard Harris). Vindobona is mentioned twice. In one, the main character's servant, Cicero, trying to get Lucilla's attention, says, "I kept your father in Vindobona!" In the other, the main character asks if someone in his group of gladiators has served in the army, to which an anonymous fighter responds, "I served your orders in Vindobona".

• The historical novel Voten of the Welsh writer John James begins in "Vindabonum" and imagines life there in the centuryIId. C.