Roman city in Austria has been digitally reconstructed

[Angela]

They did a great job of it too...

See:
http://www.archaeology.org/news/5427-170404-austria-carnuntum-shops

"VIENNA, AUSTRIA—Wolfgang Neubauer, director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology (LBI ArchPro), has employed aerial photography, ground-penetrating radar systems, and magnetometers to study the Roman city of Carnuntum, according to a report in Live Science. The city, located on the southern bank of the Danube River, was home to as many as 50,000 people in the second century A.D. The latest survey suggests there was a shop-lined boulevard leading to the city’s 13,000-seat amphitheater. Neubauer and his team compared what they found to similar buildings in other Roman cities, and concluded that the shops likely sold souvenirs and ready-to-eat food. “It gives us now a very clear story of a day at the amphitheater,” he said."

This is the newest part, the amphitheater and shops. One area is thought to have been a gladiatorial school.

I guess the food shops would have looked something like this:

The city as a whole:

Thermal baths:

A villa: Hook up the wifi and I'm ready to move in.

Such civilized surroundings paired with such brutality.

 

[bicicleur 2]

very nice pictures
very luxurious estates for the happy few

weren't these Carnuti allies and trading partners of the Roman before it was annexed into the Empire?

 

[Angela]

very nice pictures
very luxurious estates for the happy few

weren't these Carnuti allies and trading partners of the Roman before it was annexed into the Empire?

Weren't the Carnutes further west in Gaul?

All I know of Carnuntum is basically summarized here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnuntum

They didn't show it or even mention it by name in Gladiator, perhaps because they didn't want to make the quarters of Marcus Aurelius seem so luxurious.

It seems it was a pretty prosperous town altogether, although the hoi polloi didn't have villas.

The way that the gladiators were treated is, on the other hand, beyond barbaric to me.

I find it very interesting that Austrians are so enthralled with all of this, enough to invest a huge amount of money and literally turn it into a theme park and tourist center, with a fully functioning bath, etc., and complete with reenactments. I'm not aware of anything like this in Italy. It's the Middle Ages and the Renaissance that we celebrate like this. I'm not quite sure why that is...

"From the year 2000 to 2012 the areas excavated in the 1950s were investigated anew to obtain exactinformation about building history and the chronology of settlement. In order to conserve the wallspermanently, a concept that is so far unique throughout the world was implemented by the Museumin cooperation with the authorities for the preservation of ancient monuments: a Roman city quarterwas erected in the exact original location. A total of 26 million euros was invested by the Province ofLower Austria. The aim is to open a window back in time to the early 4th century AD, to the time ofthe Emperors’ Conference.The reconstructions were erected using methods of experimental archaeology and are fullyfunctioning. Experimental means that Roman tools were recreated and used in the building work,the clay tiles for the underfloor heating systems were fired in Carnuntum’s own kiln, only old woodwas used for roof constructions, which was chopped (just as the Romans did) and not cut. Buildingwork itself was carried out using ancient craftsmen’s techniques.The interiors were designed as far as possible following archaeological evidence, with murals,flooring and furnishing elements being reconstructed based on relief depictions. However,everything that can be seen is based on archaeological findings. When there was no evidence, thennothing is shown.A Roman citizen’s house, a Roman city mansion as well as public baths have been built as fullreconstructions. In addition, a partial reconstruction was carried out in order to protect the soleRoman floor mosaic that has been preserved in Carnuntum."

http://www.carnuntum.at/en/press-corner/press-information_facts-and-figures-2016.pdf

http://www.carnuntum.at/en/whats-on-in-carnuntum/25-romerfestival-2017

 

[bicicleur 2]

I was refering to Noreia, the never found capital city of the Celtic kingdom of Noricum.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noricum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noreia

It looks like Carnuntum is another city.

It is nice there is so much interest for the site.
It is also amazing how much can be discovered today by just scanning the soil, without having to dig it all.

 

[LeBrok]

Different architecture than in Pompeii. Houses are not as open to elements as in warmer climate of South Italy. Every house has a garden. Almost like today. Although they had very long houses on very narrow and long lots.
Enormous central square. Was military garrison there?

 

[Angela]

Different architecture than in Pompeii. Houses are not as open to elements as in warmer climate of South Italy. Every house has a garden. Almost like today. Although they had very long houses on very narrow and long lots.
Enormous central square. Was military garrison there?

The architecture is indeed different.

We first hear of it as a Roman fort under Tiberius, although it was a center for the amber trade before that.

It only increased in military importance after that, becoming the center of all the Roman fortifications along the Danube from Vindobona (now Vienna) to Brigetio. A legion and auxiliary troops were stationed there, including a castrum of cavalry. We know a lot about the Legios stationed there. It was only the location of the city that was lost. I think there was a total of about 6,000 troops here in this one fort, out of a population of about 50,000.

This is the recently discovered garrison of the Governor's guard:

This is the gladiator school as reconstructed: