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Vindobona
Vindobona (Latin pronunciation: [wɪnˈdɔbɔna]; from Gaulish windo- "white" and bona "base/bottom") was a Roman military camp (or castra) 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 13th century, being changed to Berghof, or now simply known as Alter Berghof (the Old Berghof).
Around 1 AD, the kingdom of Noricum was included in the Roman Empire. Henceforth, the Danube 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.
Early references to Vindobona are made by the geographer Ptolemy in his Geographica and the historian Aurelius Victor, who recounts that emperor Marcus Aurelius died in Vindobona on 17 March 180 from an unknown illness while on a military campaign against invading Germanic tribes. Today, there is a Marc-Aurelstraße (English: Marcus Aurelius street) near the Hoher Markt in Vienna. However, Tertullian's Apologeticum places Marcus Aurelius' death at Sirmium (province of Pannonia Inferior, modern Sremska Mitrovica).
It is possible that Vindobona as a legionary fortress was built around the year 100, since the oldest excavated building inscriptions date from 103.
Vindobona was part of the Roman province of Pannonia, whose regional administrative centre was Carnuntum. Vindobona was a military camp contiguous to the civilian city of Canabae. 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 of Carnuntum, Brigetio and Aquincum. By the time of Emperor Commodus, four legions (X Gemina, XIV Gemina Martia Victrix, I Adiutrix and II Adiutrix) were stationed in Pannonia.
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 the Danube during the 3rd century which eroded a considerable part of the camp. 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. The population fled after the Huns invaded Pannonia in the 430s and the settlement was abandoned for several centuries.
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Vindobona
Vindobona (Latin pronunciation: [wɪnˈdɔbɔna]; from Gaulish windo- "white" and bona "base/bottom") was a Roman military camp (or castra) 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 13th century, being changed to Berghof, or now simply known as Alter Berghof (the Old Berghof).
Around 1 AD, the kingdom of Noricum was included in the Roman Empire. Henceforth, the Danube 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.
Early references to Vindobona are made by the geographer Ptolemy in his Geographica and the historian Aurelius Victor, who recounts that emperor Marcus Aurelius died in Vindobona on 17 March 180 from an unknown illness while on a military campaign against invading Germanic tribes. Today, there is a Marc-Aurelstraße (English: Marcus Aurelius street) near the Hoher Markt in Vienna. However, Tertullian's Apologeticum places Marcus Aurelius' death at Sirmium (province of Pannonia Inferior, modern Sremska Mitrovica).
It is possible that Vindobona as a legionary fortress was built around the year 100, since the oldest excavated building inscriptions date from 103.
Vindobona was part of the Roman province of Pannonia, whose regional administrative centre was Carnuntum. Vindobona was a military camp contiguous to the civilian city of Canabae. 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 of Carnuntum, Brigetio and Aquincum. By the time of Emperor Commodus, four legions (X Gemina, XIV Gemina Martia Victrix, I Adiutrix and II Adiutrix) were stationed in Pannonia.
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 the Danube during the 3rd century which eroded a considerable part of the camp. 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. The population fled after the Huns invaded Pannonia in the 430s and the settlement was abandoned for several centuries.