!!!Carnuntum

Carnuntum, most important ancient Roman settlement in Austria. 
Situated in the area between present-day  Petronell-Carnuntum and  Bad 
Deutsch-Altenburg (Lower Austria). The name C. was taken over from a 
pre-Roman settlement. C. is mentioned in the works of Velleius 
Paterculus, Pliny the Elder, the astronomer Ptolemaios, in the 
"Meditations" of Emperor  Marcus Aurelius (the 3%%sup rd/%  book of 
which he wrote at C.), in the vita of Septimius Severus, in the works 
of Ammianus Marcellinus and many other texts of late Antiquity, the 
Tabula Peutingeriana, Itinerarium Antonini and the Notitia Dignitatum.

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The oldest archaeological finds from the area of the military camp 
date from the middle of the 1%%sup st/%  century A.D. The civilian 
town of C. became the capital of the province under Emperor Trajan 
(98-117 A.D.) ( Pannonia) as well as seat of the governor; Emperor 
Hadrian (117-138 A.D.) made it an independent town, Municipium 
Aelium C., and Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211 A.D.), who was 
proclaimed emperor at C., gave it the status of a Colonia. In late 
Antiquity a legion and a Danube fleet were stationed at C. and an 
emperors´ conference was held there 307 or 308 A.D. Around 
350 A.D. an earthquake caused serious damage and marked the 
beginning its decline. Under Emperor Valentinian I Carnuntum 
served as headquarters in the war against the Quadi and Sarmatians in 
375.

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Military area: The military camp was situated between today's 
Petronell and Bad Deutsch-Altenburg, in the shape of an irregular 
polygon 490 m in length and between 334 m and 391 m in 
width, its front side, which faced the Danube, has been swept away by 
the river. To the west lies a minor camp for supporting troops. The 
town situated before the camp (canabae legionis) had its own forum, 
thermal baths and an amphitheatre for 8,000 people; a temple district 
where oriental deities were worshipped was discovered during the 
excavation works.

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Civilian area: The large thermal baths were what is now called the 
palace ruin, which was adapted for representative purposes around 300. 
The amphitheatre close to the  Heidentor had a seating capacity of 
13,000. The hypothesis claiming that the buildings at the southern 
portal were an early Christian church and baptistry remains unproven. 
Today two Roman aqueducts still carry water; they were made of bricks 
and it was even possible to walk in them. A temple district for the 
Roman state cult, monuments for the worship of the emperors Hadrian 
and Marcus Aurelius, a cult theatre, numerous altars and inscriptions 
were built on top of the Pfaffenberg hill. Finds are exhibited in the 
newly designed Museum Carnuntinum; archaeological park; Festival Art 
Carnuntum

!Literature
W. Jobst, Provinzhauptstadt Carnuntum, 1983; M. Kandler 
and H. Vetters (eds.), Der roemische Limes in Oesterreich, 1986; K. 
Genser, Der oesterreichische Donaulimes in der Roemerzeit, 1986; W. 
Jobst (ed.), Carnuntum. Das Erbe Roms an der Donau, 1992. - Regular 
articles in the Carnuntum annual.


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