Pons Drusi

Section of the Tabula Peutingeriana with Sterzing, Klausen, Pons Drusi and Trient

Pons Drusi (German "Bridge of Drusus ") was a Roman military station in the area of Bolzano . Their exact location is unknown.

The name comes from the road map of Castorius (known as Tabula Peutingeriana ) from around 300 AD , in which the distance between Trient and Pons Drusi is given as 40 miles , while that between Pons Drusi and Sublavio is given as 13. Apart from possible measurement inaccuracies The Romans did not know any decimal numbers , the approx. 59 km from Trento and the approx. 19.2 km to Sublavio can therefore vary by a few hundred meters.

The exact location of Pons Drusi is controversial as there are no archaeological finds about it. The area around the Bolzano parish church with a bridge at the location of today's Loreto Bridge comes into question . However, the fact that the name Bolzano does not derive from Pons Drusi, but from the Roman Badausium or Bauzanum, speaks against this . Theodor Mommsen's theory is more plausible , according to which Pons Drusi was just a crossing point and a road point in Kardaun at the beginning of the Eisack Gorge or at the beginning of the medieval Kuntersweg . This is supported by the fact that the bridge there over the Eisack ( Fig. Bridge until 1866 ) marks a strategically important point in the impassable terrain, and that in the past Sublavio was generally suspected to be in Kollmann , while new excavations showed that it was probably further north in Waidbruck was. The valley course 19.2 km south of Waidbruck flows into Kardaun, not into Bozen.

Italian nationalism and especially fascism of the early 20th century constructed a significant military presence of the Romans and postulated Roman settlements as the nucleus of the foundation of the city of Bolzano. For a long time, the Bozen Basin was only populated like a village on the higher edge areas because of the swamp and flooding . The establishment of an urban market settlement took place around 1170/1180 by the Bishop of Trento .

literature

Karl Theodor Hoeniger : Altbozner picture book. 100 illustrations and 40 essays on the city's history. Ferrari-Auer: Bozen 1933, p. 15 ff. (Digitized version)
Bruno Mahlknecht : Bozen through the centuries. Volume 3. Athesia Spectrum, Bozen 2006, ISBN 88-6011-027-0 , A look into the Bozen valley basin 2000 and more years ago, p. 10 ff.

Individual evidence

^ Richard Heuberger : From Pons Drusi to Sublavione . In: Klio 23, 1929, No. 1, pp. 24-73.
^ Richard Heuberger: On the history of the Roman Brennerstraße . In: Klio 27, 1934, pp. 311-336.
↑ Hannes Obermair : Bolzano documents of the Middle Ages and the establishment of the urban settlement Bolzano . In: Bolzano from the beginning to the demolition of the city wall. Reports of the international study conference in Maretsch Castle . Publishing house Athesia, Bozen 1991, ISBN 88-7014-559-X , p. 159-190, esp. 170-179 .

Web links

[1] Richard Heuberger : From Pons Drusi to Sublavione . In: Klio 23, 1929, No. 1, pp. 24-73.

[2] Richard Heuberger: On the history of the Roman Brennerstraße . In: Klio 27, 1934, pp. 311-336.

[3] Hannes Obermair : Bolzano documents of the Middle Ages and the establishment of the urban settlement Bolzano . In: Bolzano from the beginning to the demolition of the city wall. Reports of the international study conference in Maretsch Castle . Publishing house Athesia, Bozen 1991, ISBN 88-7014-559-X , p. 159-190, esp. 170-179 .