Austria Romana

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Roman provinces and places on the territory of today's Austria
Heidentor at Petronell-Carnuntum
Marcus Aurelius , pardoning Marcomanni chiefs - Relief of an arch of honor for Marc Aurel
Legion camp on the Danube in the 1st century AD

Austria Romana (Roman Austria) describes the historical and cultural heritage of today's Austria from the Roman era. The Austria Romana is the working area of provincial Roman archeology in Austria. The term was coined in the 19th century and from the medieval Latinized form Austria for Austria and the Latin adjective romanus composed (Roman).

The entire territory of today's Austria was under the direct or indirect political influence of Rome. All areas on this side (south) of the Danube were from the end of the 1st century BC. Part of the Imperium Romanum and belonged to the Roman provinces of Raetia , Noricum and Pannonia . In contrast, the Mühlviertel , Waldviertel and Weinviertel were north of the Danube in the so-called Barbaricum , so they were not directly under Roman administration. Roman troops repeatedly crossed the Danube Limes to fight incursions or threats from this area. Most of the time, however, the Germanic tribes living above the river maintained lively peaceful relations with the Roman Empire.

The approx. 600 years of Roman political and cultural rule are divided into several phases:

  • from Augustus (approx. 15 BC) to the Marcomann Wars (166–180 AD)
  • from the Marcomann Wars to Diocletianus (284–305 AD)
  • from Diocletian to around AD 400 (collapse of the border defense in the Vienna Basin )
  • from approx. 400 AD to the withdrawal of the Romanesque population from Ufernorikum in 488 AD.
  • from 488 AD to the end of the 6th century AD ( Great Migration )

Pre-Roman times

Already since approx. 400 BC The Celts settled in the area of ​​the Eastern Alps. When several tribes tried to settle near present-day Friuli , the Romans established in 181 BC. BC Aquileia (today near Grado in Italy ) as a military bulwark, trading metropolis and, above all, as the starting point for the Amber Road . In the early 2nd century BC The Noriker (Norici) people, with their center in Carinthia , began to play a leading role among the Celtic tribes. The Noric settlement on the Magdalensberg was possibly already called Virunum , as was the later Roman city on the Zollfeld near Klagenfurt. Rome maintained lively contacts with the Noric Kingdom (Regnum Noricum) . It was about the gold from the Tauern , the Noriker horses that can be used for heavy work, as well as the salt from the Alps and the high-quality Noric iron . 113 BC The Roman consul Gnaeus Papirius Carbo was called to help against the Germanic Cimbri , Teutons and Ambrones . The battle of Noreia ended with a defeat for the Romans, but the Germans did not move to Italy, but to the west.

Alpine campaigns

It was not until the Alpine campaigns of 16 BC. BC and 15 BC The areas in today's Austria were annexed to the Roman Empire. Publius Silius Nerva reached in 16 BC A far-reaching political connection between the Kingdom of Noricum and the Roman Empire, thus creating the conditions for his campaign against the Trumpilini and Camunni regions and their allies between Italy and Noricum at that time . In the following year the area of ​​the Rhaetian Alpine tribes west of Noricum was conquered by the step-sons of Augustus , Tiberius and Drusus .

On the Tropaeum Alpium des Augustus, the Celtic tribes from the Kingdom of Noricum are therefore not listed among the defeated peoples ( gentes alpinae devictae ). An exception are the Ambisonts , who are said to have lived on the upper Salzach , called Isonta with a Celtic name . So if their settlement area was actually in Noricum, they would have been the only tribe that opposed the occupation of the kingdom.

The names of the following tribes from the Central Alps, on whose territory the province Raetia was later founded, can be found on the victory monument of Augustus: Vennoneten (located on the Hinterrhein ), Venostes (from the Vinschgau , south of the Reschenpass ), Isarken (on the Eisack ) , Breonen (in the Inn and Wipptal valleys ), Genaunen (in Tyrol ), Fokunaten , four tribes of the Vindeliker (in the Bavarian Alpine foothills and in the northern Alps ) namely the Cosuanetes , Rucinaten , Likaten and Catenaten , Ambisonten , (in Pinzgau in the upper Salzach Valley ), Rugusker and Suaneten (on the Alpine Rhine ).

Provincial and city surveys

The conquered areas in the Central Alps originally only reached as far north as the Danube and initially consisted of the sub-areas Raetia , Vindelicia and Vallis Poenina ( Valais ). Under Emperor Claudius , the Valais became an independent province as Alpes Poenina , and Raetia et Vindelicia was raised to a province and later only called Raetia . Noricum also only became a Roman province under the reign of Emperor Claudius. In addition, the emperor granted the settlements Aguntum ( Dölsach near Lienz in East Tyrol), Teurnia (St. Peter im Holz in Lendorf near Spittal an der Drau ), Virunum (in Zollfeld near Klagenfurt ), Iuvavum ( Salzburg ) and Celeia ( Celje in Slovenia ) the town charter as a Municipium . Brigantium ( Bregenz ) became a Roman city in Raetia .

The first governor ( procurator ) in Noricum was Gaius Baebius Atticus . The civitas Saevatum et Laiancorum , a citizenship from which the city of Aguntum later probably emerged, has dedicated an inscription to the new governor in his birthplace Iulium Carnicum ( Zuglio in Friuli ) . His residence was the Virunum, previously laid out according to the Roman model in the Zollfeld near Klagenfurt . Another procurator known for inscriptions and a bust was Claudius Paternus Clementianus , who became governor of Noricum in 120 AD.

From Marc Aurel to Diocletian

After the campaigns of Emperor Marc Aurel in the Danube region, a legion was also stationed in Noricum. This changed the administrative status of the previous provincia inermis (province without a legionary garrison). The procurator was replaced by a Legatus Augusti pro praetore , who must have passed the senatorial course honorum up to the praetor . The legionary place in Noricum was Lauriacum and thus the governor also had his seat here. In terms of size, the officium , the official body available to the governor , could have comprised a number of 100 officialis , as has been handed down for the procurator of Raetia. Some of the offices could have been located in nearby Ovilava ( Wels ).

Even after the sudden death of Emperor Marc Aurel, who died in 180 AD in or near the Pannonian legion camp Vindobona ( Vienna ), the focus of Roman politics remained in the Danube region. His son Commodus did not pursue the plan to incorporate areas north of the Danube into the Roman Empire. The bases established by Marc Aurel on the March and in the Weinviertel were given up. After Commodus and his successors were murdered, the governor of Pannonia superior , Septimius Severus , prevailed. He was in Carnuntum in the Second Year of the Four Emperors proclaimed 193 n. Chr. By his troops to the Emperor and founded the dynasty of the Severi .

The time of increasing prosperity in the provinces, guaranteed by the Pax Romana , came to an end due to the looting of the Marcomanni and the internal unrest that was triggered by the constant change at the top of the empire . The clashes between the emperors and the opposing emperors and the troop levies involved swallowed up large sums of money. Septimius Severus nationalized the latifundia in Spain, large farms that produced wine, grain, and olive oil. The gain for the emperor was probably only short-term, as the traditional economic and trade structure soon seems to have collapsed. The effects also affected distant provinces of the Roman Empire. In Brigantium (Bregenz) numerous amphorae for olives and olive oil from Spain were found, which could even be assigned to certain latifundia by their inscriptions. Such finds could only be proven for the time up to the reign of Septimius Severus, not later. In 196 AD, this economic downturn led to an uprising in Noricum.

See also

literature

  • Herwig Wolfram (ed.): Austrian history . Vienna 1994 ff .:
    • Volume 2: Verena Gassner, Sonja Jilek, Sabine Ladstätter: On the edge of the empire. The Romans in Austria . Vienna 2002
  • Erich Zöllner : The development of Austria. Chapter: Austria at the time of the Romans (Austria Romana). Pp. 15–28, Tosa Verlag, Vienna 1995
  • Hermann Vetters : Austria Romana. Writings of the Institute for Austrian Studies, 40, Vienna 1982
  • Friedrich Pichler: Austria romana. Geographical lexicon of all mountains, rivers, ports, islands, countries, seas, post offices, lakes, cities, roads, peoples mentioned in Austria during Roman times. E. Avenarius, Leipzig 1902

Web links

Commons : Ancient Roman categories in Austria  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Pro Austria Romana: News sheet for research on the Roman era in Austria. Founded by Rudolf Noll, continued by Gerhard Langmann, published by the Austrian Archaeological Institute and the Austrian Society for Prehistory and Early History. Published since 1951.
  2. ↑ a b c S. Rieckhoff: Where did you go? - On the archaeological evidence of the Celts in southern Germany in the 1st century BC Chr. In: H. Birkhan (Ed.): Celtic incursions on the Danube. Files from the fourth symposium of German-speaking Celtologists. Philosophical - historical - archaeological evidence. Linz / Danube 17th - 21st July 2005 (Vienna 2007) pp. 409–440
  3. ↑ Peter Anreiter: Breonen, Genaunen, and Fokunaten. Pre-Roman namesake in the Tyrolean Alps . Ed .: Institute for Linguistics at the University of Innsbruck. Innsbruck 1997, ISBN 3-85124-181-9 .
  4. ↑ It is likely that the latter four tribes are the four Vindeliker tribes
  5. ↑ Listed in: Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum V, 1838
  6. ↑ Portrait bust of Claudius Paternus Clementianus. In: uni-klu.ac.at. Landesmuseum Kärnten , accessed on September 26, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Inscriptions by Claudius Paternus Clementianus from Abodiacum (Epfach am Lech)
  8. ^ Province of Noricum - Administration & Development. In: imperiumromanum.com. Retrieved May 14, 2018 .
  9. ^ Herbert Hasenmayer and Walter Göhring: Antiquity. An approved work and textbook for history and social studies. Publishing house Ferdinand Hirt, Vienna 1976
  10. ^ Christian Rohr: Austrian history, part 1: Austria from Roman times to the late Middle Ages. P. 4 (PDF)