Notes

Carnuntum

Carnuntum

Murray Eiland

“Observe constantly that all things take place by change, and accustom thyself to consider that the nature of the Universe loves nothing so much as to change the things which are and to make new things like them. For everything that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be.”

So wrote the Emperor Marcus Aurelius in the Meditations, sometime between the years 170 and 180 AD, while in the midst of a protracted and difficult war against the barbarian tribes along the Danube frontier of the Roman Empire. In describing the inexorability of change, Marcus might as easily have been describing the history of Carnuntum, one of the principal locations he used as the center of the Imperial court for much of his campaigning between 171 and 173 AD.

In the narrow space of three generations, Carnuntum grew from a tiny military outpost to the center of Roman government on the upper Danube to a city fit for an Emperor. After the passing of Marcus Aurelius, the place continued to grow throughout the Severan dynasty in the 3rd century, before being sacked and abandoned late in the 4th century. Today, only a tiny village marks the spot of what has become the largest archaeological site in Austria.

The area around Carnuntum was considered important even before the arrival of the Romans. The pre-Roman inhabitants of the area were the Boii, a Celtic group displaced from their previous homes in northern Italy and Gaul. Few traces remain of the Boii presence in Carnuntum, however, there was a a fortified place or oppidum. Coins, ceramics and fibulae from the period have been recovered from the site. As is the case with much Celtic artwork, assigning a date to the material can be difficult, as is determining their cultural affinity. However, several sculptures appear to date from the 1st or 2nd centuries AD.

Across the Danube, the Celts of the region erected another oppidum on the hill of Devin, in modern-day Slovakia, which was the main site of the area until the arrival of the Romans. Excavations at Carnuntum suggest that as it grew in importance, the relevance of sites on the other bank of the Danube, including Devin, diminished until they were finally abandoned. The pre-Roman inhabitants of the area were the Boii, a Celtic group that had been displaced from their previous homes in northern Italy and Gaul. Few traces remain of the Boii presence in Carnuntum their principal site in the region lay on the other side of the Danube.

The Boii, according to Tacitus, were pushed by Germanic tribes, most importantly the Marcomanni, further into modern-day Bohemia (coincidentally taking its name from the group.) The Marcomanni had been clients of the Roman Empire since the year 19 AD, however the turmoil of the 2nd century led to a more aggressive posture on their part.

In 166 AD, the Marcomanni crossed the Danube, together with several associated groups of Germans, and the Iazges, a Persian-speaking Sarmatian group, and began raiding far into the Empire. The Romans suffered several major defeats at the hands of the invaders, resulting in further population shifts. In the course of this incursion, the invaders promptly ran into the fortified town of Carnuntum, which already had a century and a half of history behind it.

The earliest camp at Carnuntum was a temporary winter site selected by Tiberius during his campaign against the Marcomanni in 6 AD. Because of some variations in the description of the location of this camp, it was likely situated in a different place from the site of the first permanent legion fort in the area. The Romans were content to develop only a temporary fortification, for it was by no means clear at that time that occupation of the area would become permanent.

While Augustus and Tiberius constructed temporary fortifications during their campaigns, by the reign of Claudius the Romans fortified the Danube River with posts and a limes built of wood and earthen ramparts. The original embankments were designed simply to defend and control conquered areas, however, by the end of the 1st century AD, they assumed an offensive function as well, providing a springboard for operations.

Consequently, the first permanent camp was built by legio XV Apollinaris, sometime during the reign of Claudius. The camp in evidence today was built by legio XIV Gemina Martia Victrix, which was stationed in the area from the time of Trajan to the end of Roman rule in the 5th century AD. Hadrian, in recognition of the importance of the place, granted Carnuntum municipal status.

As the expansion of the Empire slowed, then halted in the 2nd century AD, the line of forts resumed a defensive function once more, indeed new structures were built in the wake of the Germanic invasions in the time of Marcus Aurelius. In the defensive scheme, Carnuntum and other posts were especially important, for once the limes were breached, there was little to stop any potential invader, as happened during the initial phase of the Marcomannic Wars.

After the inintial incursion of the Germans was turned back in 166 and 167 AD, in 170 AD, the Marcomanni and Quadi, under Balomar again crossed the Danube and inflicted another heavy defeat on the Romans not far from Carnuntum. Perhaps as many as 20,000 Roman troops were killed iin the battle; this number would have seriously depleted the available Imperial forces in the province. In the aftermath of the battle, the victorious Marcomannic coalition rampaged as far south as Aquileia in Italy, which they unsuccessfully besieged.

The personal intervention of the Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, followed. Marcus began a series of campaigns against the Germans, and ultimately spent three years at Carnuntum between 171 and 173 AD. Several chapters of his work, the Meditations, were composed at Carnuntum. Final peace was not attained until the Romans won a decisive victory in 178 AD.

The Romans were unable to fully consolidate their position before Marcus Aurelius died at Vindobonna (modern Vienna) in 181 AD. His son, Commodus, well-known for his incompetence and brutality, succeeded as Emperor, thus bringing to an end the adoptive succession of the “Five Good Emperors,” which had provided stability since the accession of Nerva in 96 AD.

The political importance of Carnuntum continued even after Marcus Aurelius' death in 180 AD. It was already the capital of Pannonia Superior. Septimus Severus was proclaimed Emperor by the garrison there on 9 April 193 after the murder of Pertinax, and Caracalla elevated the status of the town to a colonia in the 230's AD.

After the Severans, the town began to decline in importance. Carnuntum figured prominently in the unsuccessful rebellion of P. Cassius Regilianus against Gallienus failed in 260 AD. Diocletian attempted to mediate the dispute of his colleagues in power, Maximian and Galerius in 308 AD. In 374 AD, it was sacked by the Quadi and the Iazges, and was quickly replaced by Vindobona as the political, military and economic center of the region, before being completely abandoned and forgotten.

The site at Carnuntum reflects the Roman effort to quickly adapt to the radical transformations occurring in the area at the time. The city gained prominence within a century of its founding, and faded to insignificance nearly as quickly. Nevertheless, it was important enough to serve as the center of operations for Marcus Aurelius for three years, and to be the capital of Pannonia Superior and a city of the highest classification, a colonia, under Caracalla.

At that moment, three main divisions of the town existed. The first portion was the military fortification, including both legion and auxiliary forts, and a naval base. The second part was the canabae, the “barracks town” or “post town” which served the needs of the troops stationed in the garrison. Finally there was the civilian town proper, separated by some distance from the other two. Carnuntum at its height was thus both a major military outpost as well as a thriving commercial center, owing to its particularly advantageous location.

Military activity in Carnuntum must have been considerable, as evidenced by the two major sites related to the garrison, one housing the legionnaire camp, the other housing an auxiliary castellum.

The legion camp, covering between 45 and 50 acres (8 to 19 hectares) is located about halfway between Petronell and Bad Deutsch-Altenburg. Roman site planning favored relatively flat ground, rather than more naturally defensible locations which tended to be coupled with greater site restrictions. In form the camp is an irregular polygon, but the structures within follow the rigid Roman plan.Today, little remains of the legion post as it was filled in after excavation. The route of the modern asphalt road is the same as the main street of the camp.

About a kilometer west of the camp is an associated auxiliary castellum built in the second half of the 1st century AD, but subsequently abandoned by the 3rd century AD. This site, discovered only about thirty years ago, was, sadly, largely lost to new development.

Around the legion fort was the camp town, or canabae. The residents of this town, described as “Roman citizens resident with the legion,” provided a variety of services for the troops. Many of the residents were also doubtless discharged veterans who wished to remain close to their established friends and contacts, in a familiar place. Post towns near a legion could be quite substantial. At Carnuntum, the town was prosperous enough to support a temple to Jupiter built atop a nearby hill.

Perhaps 100 meters north-east of the castellum [check this—is it near the castellum or the legion post?] are the remains of an amphitheatre which is being preserved and restored according to modern standards. The structure was originally able to hold up to 13,000 spectators, sufficient to make the place the fourth largest known amphitheater in the Roman world. In addition to the usual Roman ceremonies, spectacles, and gladiatorial contests, the location probably made the amphitheater useful as a military drill ground.

In 2011, systematic geomagnetic mapping of the area revealed the remains of a building thought to be a gladiatorial school or ludus, next to the amphitheater. This facility is unique in terms of both its size and the state of its preservation, though many partial examples of similar buildings exist in both Rome and Pompeii.

About two kilometers further west is the modern town of Petronell, which is built on the site of the old Roman civilian settlement. The Roman site developed as the natural result of growth and “overflow” from the canabae from the 1st century AD and thereafter.

In a pattern typical of Roman military camps elsewhere, this new development was situated at some distance from the pre-existing military establishments. By the time Carnuntum was denominated a colonia, in the 3rd century AD it was sufficiently prosperus to support the construction of an immense bath complex large to be mistaken in later epochs as the remains of a palace.

Domestic architecture underwent similar improvements. In the earliest phases, houses built of clay brick and wood were prevalent. By the 2nd century, however, stone was in considerable use. In the 3rd and 4th centuries, the town was enclosed by a wall.

The source of Carnuntum's prosperity derived, in some measure, from its location at the intersection of Roman commerical routes with the so-called “Amber Road.” It was thus poised not only to benefit from trade within the Empire, but to serve as a gateway for trade beyond the borders.

Amber was gathered mainly along the beaches of the Baltic coast, where the fossil resin weathered out of sediments. These deposits were approximately 600 miles from Carnuntum, but amber was very popular in Rome as jewelry. Amber was also held to be a magical substance, as it could burn and was slightly aromatic. Small amber amulets were often placed with the dead.

The north-south trade route connected the Baltic with the Adriatic and was active by the 16th century BC, with amber beads being found both in Egyptian and Mycenaean graves. Although the exact route is difficult to trace in non-Roman areas, it most likely followed river courses. Caches of amber provide evidence of the trade into Carnuntum, where it then moved along the Roman road network. Because amber degrades quickly, it is often lost from the archaeological record, and it is difficult to estimate the scale of the amber trade and the refinement of the final products. Rome clearly had a taste for this particular luxury item, but comparatively few surviving examples attest to the extent of its importance in antiquity.

This prosperity was some time in developing, and was not universally shared. Even by the reign of Marcus Aurelius, Carnuntum might have been regarded by Romans as a difficult place to live. Cassius Dio (163-229 AD) described previous generations in an unflattering light:

“The Pannonians...lead the most miserable existence of mankind. They are not well off in the matter of land or sky, they cultivate no olives or vines except to the slightest extent, andthese wreched varieties, since the greater part of their days is passed in the midst of the most rigorous winter, but they drink as well as eat of barley and millet. They have been considered very brave, however, during all periods of which we have cognizance. For they are very quick to anger and ready to slay, inasmuch as they posssess nothing which can give them a happy life.”

Certainly by the reign of the Emperor Probus (276-282 AD), wine was produced in the region of Carnuntum, regardless of what Cassius Dio thought of the quality. Dio suggests that beer was brewed from barley and millet in significant amounts, much in keeping with regional tastes today. The archaeological evidence suggests that in later times, as the Roman presence increased, there were steady imports of olives, as well as trade in wine and other luxury goods that might have been considered staples in Italy and Rome itself. Evidence for this trade can be seen in the pottery remains found at the site, which was mostly from Italy. Despite the fact that there were local clay sources suitable for the making of pottery, little local crockery was made during the Roman period. Scant evidence of workshops has been uncovered.



Perhaps the most notable comment made by Dio concerns the general lack of luxury goods. It is interesting to note that Dio says nothing about the trade in amber, however it is possible that he did not appreciate the significance of this luxury good. While the archaeological record can furnish no evidence on the quality or quantity of food at Carnuntum, evidence of the material culture does remain and can be examined. Even in the 1st and 2nd centuries, Carnuntum was no isolated, far-flung outpost of the Roman Empire. A wide range of luxury goods were available. Some of the most interesting artifacts include a group of bronze statuettes. Many of these were recovered from chance finds before systematic excavation and therefore lack context. It is uncertain if they accompanied the dead or were used in a domestic function. Most probably they had multiple functions, as many houses had a cult niche that might have housed the figurines.

In general, most of the statues discovered are between 2 and 8 inches tall. It is unclear whether they were manufactured at Carnuntum or imported from other centers. Certainly they are small enough to be easily transported. Attesting to the importance of merchants, the god Mercury was a popular deity in Carnuntum. The messenger god is usually depicted naked, as he is in warmer Mediterranean climates. He can also appear covered in a coat more suitable to the local weather. He is often depicted with a sack of coins in his right hand, which denotes his sphere of influence over money matters and commerce, explaining his popularity among merchants. In the third and fourth centuries AD,, however following the withdrawal of troops, the trade and therefore the archaeological finds of luxury goods evaporated.

Once Carnuntum was abandoned, a great deal of stone was looted, with many medieval buildings showing occasional use of finely dressed Roman stone. However, much of the site was also preserved. As the largest archaeological site in Austria, it received attention from specialized diggers hoping to find objects that could be sold to private collectors. Systematic scientific excavations did not begin until the later part of the 19th century. In 1904, a museum opened on the site to house major finds and in 1996, an archaeological park opened, displaying sme of the major public buildings.



[[begin boxed text, about the Roman version of boxed wine]]


Viticulture in Ancient Carnuntum.


According to the most recent research, grape vines, vitis vinifera, have been cultivated for approximately 7000 years, beginning in the ancient Near East. By no later than 3500 BC, wine jars had been invented, and the seeds of a profitable trade for the ancient world were planted.

In the 2nd century B.C., Greek and Near Eastern techniques of winemaking had spread via their colonies to all parts of Italy, Spain, northern Africa and southern France. The Greeks, Etruscans and Italians then traded both the product, and the technique to more northerly parts of Europe during the La Tene era.

Viticulture developed into the most profitable form of agricultural business in the Mediterranean out of all forms of crop and animal raising. Successful grape growing and wine making in more northerly places, like Pannonia, demanded different techniques from those used in the original home of the grape. Since grape vines along the Rhine and Danube faced harsher environmental conditions, and much more frost, than prevailed in Italy and Greece, their cultivation was more resource intensive, both eonomically and manually.

While there is some evidence for minor efforts at grape vine cultivation in Pannonia as early as the 1st century BC, the Emperor Probus deserves much of the credit for encouraging the industry along the upper Danube. He introduced legislation simplifying earlier restrictions on viticulture in the northern and western provinces.

It is uncertain which varieties of grape were grown at ancient Carnuntum in Roman times. It is most probable that both red and white grapes were cultivated.

During harvesting, ripe bunches of grapes were plucked from the vine, either by hand or cut with a grape knife and gathered in baskets. Iron pruning knives from the period have been discovered in Carnuntum, and are on display at the Archaeological Museum. Other tools such as spades and mattocks have also been excavated.

Grapes destined for use as wine grapes were placed in large tubs and then broken, either by treading on them, or by placing them in a press. The juice was then poured into clay fermentation vats or wooden barrels. The remaining solid matter, called must, could also be placed in the fermentation container, or it could be eaten separately. The cook book of Apicius contains at least one recipe calling for must that has been reduced by heating.

The grape juice remained fermenting in containers from its harvest and pressing in the fall, until the following spring. It was then poured into clay amphorae, which stopped with a clay plug, and sealed with wax or pitch, rendering them leak-proof and air tight. Beginning in the 1st century BC, plugs made from cork oak were increasingly used in place of clay stoppers. Amphorae were then, usually, painted with a label indicating the tye of wine and the consular year in which it had been made.

Since wine was an important food item for all levels of society, it quickly became one of the most important trade goods in the Empire. Wine merchants conducted the long distance or wholesale trade, and thanks to the habit of inscribing information on amphora, we know many of their names. Whenever possible, wine was carried in ships or boats as a more economical means of transport, and, indeed, concentrations of amphorae are often indicative of ancient shipwrecks for archaeological investigation.





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