Virunum
Encyclopedia
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
city in the province of Noricum
Noricum
Noricum, in ancient geography, was a Celtic kingdom stretching over the area of today's Austria and a part of Slovenia. It became a province of the Roman Empire...
, on today's Zollfeld
Zollfeld
Zollfeld is a slightly ascending plain in Carinthia, Austria. It is one of the oldest cultural landscapes in the East Alpine region.-Geography:...
in the Austrian State of Carinthia
Carinthia (state)
Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...
. Virunum may also have been the name of the older Celtic-Roman settlement on the hilltop of Magdalensberg
Magdalensberg
Magdalensberg is a municipality in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in Carinthia in Austria.The municipality comprises 40 villages and hamlets: Christofberg, Deinsdorf, Dürnfeld, Eibelhof, Eixendorf, Farchern, Freudenberg, Gammersdorf, Geiersdorf, Göriach, Gottesbichl, Großgörtschach, Gundersdorf,...
nearby.
Virunum (Virunensis) is today a Titular See
Titular see
A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular bishop", "titular metropolitan", or "titular archbishop"....
of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
.
History
MunicipiumMunicipium
Municipium , the prototype of English municipality, was the Latin term for a town or city. Etymologically the municipium was a social contract between municipes, the "duty holders," or citizens of the town. The duties, or munera, were a communal obligation assumed by the municipes in exchange for...
Claudium Virunum, or simply, Virunum, was founded under Emperor Claudius as the capital of the province of Noricum succeeding the town upon the hilltop of Magdalensberg
Magdalensberg
Magdalensberg is a municipality in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in Carinthia in Austria.The municipality comprises 40 villages and hamlets: Christofberg, Deinsdorf, Dürnfeld, Eibelhof, Eixendorf, Farchern, Freudenberg, Gammersdorf, Geiersdorf, Göriach, Gottesbichl, Großgörtschach, Gundersdorf,...
, perhaps also taking its name from that settlement, which is widely believed to have been the royal capital city of the pre-Roman Celtic kingdom of Noricum
Noricum
Noricum, in ancient geography, was a Celtic kingdom stretching over the area of today's Austria and a part of Slovenia. It became a province of the Roman Empire...
, a town whose name is, as yet, not known. The new Roman foundation was situated on the main route from the Adriatic to the Danube, with a branch through south eastern Carinthia connecting Virunum with the Amber Road
Amber Road
The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber. As one of the waterways and ancient highways, for centuries the road led from Europe to Asia and back, and from northern Africa to the Baltic Sea....
. Established on a flood-proof terrace on the edge of Zollfeld parts of the city stretched as far as Töltschach Hill in the east.
The city had the Latin Right
Latin Right
Latin Rights was a civic status given by the Romans, intermediate between full Roman citizenship and non-citizen status , and extended originally to the people of Latium . The most important Latin Rights were commercium, connubium, and ius migrationis...
and was the seat of the provincial governor (procurator Augusti provinciae Norici) till the middle of the 2nd century. After the Marcomannic Wars
Marcomannic Wars
The Marcomannic Wars were a series of wars lasting over a dozen years from about AD 166 until 180. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against the Marcomanni, Quadi and other Germanic peoples, along both sides of the upper and middle Danube...
(which the Romans called bellum Germanicum) the administration of the province was moved to Ovilava, today's Upper Austrian town of Wels
Upper Austria
Upper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...
, but the administration of the province's finances remained in Virunum. When Emperor Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
split the large province of Noricum, Virunum became the capital of the province of Noricum mediterraneum.
From AD 343 Virunum is known to have been a bishop's see. Little is known about the decline of the city. Being unfortified and situated in a flat valley, during the Migration Period
Migration Period
The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions , was a period of intensified human migration in Europe that occurred from c. 400 to 800 CE. This period marked the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages...
(the “Barbarian Invasions”) the city was probably partly or totally evacuated by its inhabitants, who left for the surrounding hills such as Ulrichsberg
Ulrichsberg gathering
The Ulrichsberg gathering is an annual reunion for veterans of the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS held at the Ulrichsberg mountain in Austria. Since 1958, it has been held each year on the first Sunday of October...
or Grazerkogel. In the 5th century there is mention of Teurnia
Teurnia
Municipium Teurnia was a Roman city in western Carinthia. In late antiquity it was also a bishop's see, and towards the end of Roman times it was mentioned as the capital of the province of Noricum mediterraneum...
in western Carinthia near today's town of Spittal an der Drau
Spittal an der Drau
Spittal an der Drau is located in the western part of the Austrian federal state of Carinthia and the administrative centre of the federal state's second largest district, Spittal an der Drau. It lies between the Lurnfeld area and the Lower Drava Valley. The city consists of the seven...
as the capital town of Noricum.
The territory administered from Virunum comprised central and lower Carinthia as well as parts of Styria and covered an area of about 9000 km². The usual authorities such as city council, magistrate and dual mayorship (“II viri iure dicundo”) are known in part by name.
Description
The city proper covered an area of about 1000 km². Excavations were first undertaken in the second half of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, yet documentation is poor. Extensive and systematic excavations took place from end of the 19th century until 1931. Further excavations were not undertaken until the end of the 20th century culminating in the excavation of the amphitheatre.The city's layout is that of a checkerboard, with the main axis running SSW–NNE, along which the Forum
Forum (Roman)
A forum was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls...
and the Capitolium with two adjacent blocks to the west have been excavated. A Dionysus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
-mosaic of almost 30 square metres was discovered. The city's streets were not fortified, but the sewage system, lead pipes and public water places are proof of a fine water supply and disposal.
Sanctuaries and Profane Public Buildings
Apart from the city capitol, a Dolichenum for the military god Jupiter Dolichenus was excavated, inscriptions have been discovered proving the existence of two MithraeaMithraeum
A Mithraeum is a place of worship for the followers of the mystery religion of Mithraism.The Mithraeum was either an adapted natural cave or cavern or an artificial building imitating a cavern. Mithraea were dark and windowless, even if they were not actually in a subterranean space or in a natural...
, and in 1999 two votive relief plates were found from a Nemesis
Nemesis (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Nemesis , also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia at her sanctuary at Rhamnous, north of Marathon, was the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris . The Greeks personified vengeful fate as a remorseless goddess: the goddess of revenge...
temple near the amphitheatre. Proof of an early Christian church, whose existence had been presumed for a long time, has recently been found in the northern section of the city.
A proper Roman theatre
Roman theatre (structure)
The characteristics of Roman to those of the earlier Greek theatres due in large part to its influence on the Roman triumvir Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. Much of the architectural influence on the Romans came from the Greeks, and theatre structural design was no different from other buildings...
with a stage, the only one known in all Noricum, as well as elliptic amphitheatre
Amphitheatre
An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...
were situated on the slope of Töltschach Hill. A large building further east is believed to have been the palace of the Praeses
Praeses
Praeses , is a Latin word meaning "Seated in front of, i.e. at the head ", has both ancient and modern uses.-Roman imperial use:...
or provincial governor.
The "Prunnerkreuz"
Several Roman stone slabs from Virunum have been incorporated in the Prunnerkreuz ("Prunner's Cross"), a small shrine from 1692 at the northern limits of the city. Johann Dominikus Prunner was the Secretary to the Estates of the Duchy of Carinthia and a private archaeologist.Believing the city's name to have been Sala, from which name nearby Maria Saal
Maria Saal
Maria Saal is a market town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is located in the east of the historic Zollfeld plain , the wide valley of the Glan river. The municipality includes the cadastral communes of Kading, Karnburg, Möderndorf, Possau and St...
's name was supposedly derived, Prunner had a medallion stele put in the southern wall of the sanctuary on which he had the inscription added HIC LOCVS EST UBI SALA STETIT - PENETRARE VIATOR (This is the Place where Sala once was. Wanderer, step inside). Other Virunum stones integrated are
- A steleSteleA stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
from the middle of the 1st century AD is in memory of one C. Iulius Censo and his spouse Iulia Privata. - The inscription from a tomb of c. 200 for one T. Accius Marcus, his wife Saturnina and their son Accius Maximus, soldier in the Signal Corps of the Legio II ItalicaLegio II ItalicaLegio secunda Italica , was a Roman legion levied by emperor Marcus Aurelius in 165 together with I Italica at a time when the Roman Empire was fighting both in Germania and in Parthia. There are still records of the II Italica in Noricum in the beginning of the 5th century...
. - Two Early-Christian pilaster capitals were, until recently, the only evidence for an Early-Christian church in Virunum.
Titular Archbishops of Virunum
- Giuseppe Zabkar, (born 24 December 1914 – 19 May 1984), Titular Archbishop of Virunum 1969–1984, Pro-Nuntius in IcelandIcelandIceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
and FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside... - Antonio Mattiazzo, (born 20 April 1940 in Rottanova di Cavarzere), Titular Archbishop of Virunum 1985–1989, Nuntius to Ivory Coast and Pro-Nuntius to Burkina FasoBurkina FasoBurkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
and NigerNigerNiger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
1985–1989, since 1989 Archbishop of Padua - Oscar Rizzato, Almosenier of the Pope Emeritus of the Office of Papal Charities (23 Dec. 1989–28 July 2007), Titular Archbishop of Virunum since 23 December 1989, born 8 February 1929 at S. Giorgio delle Pertiche (Italy), ordained priest: 4 July 1954, consecrated bishop: 6 January 1990
Literature
- Barley, Maurice Willmore, European towns: their archaeology and early history, New York: Academic Press for the Council for British Archaeology, 1977 ISBN 0-12-078850-0
- Beck, Roger, Qui Mortalitatis Causa Convenerunt: The Meeting of the Virunum Mithraists on June 26, A.D. 185 In: Beck on Mithraism: collected works with new essays, Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2004 ISBN 0-7546-4081-7
- Fuchs, Manfred, Virunum, Archaeologie Alpen-Adria, vol. 3, Klagenfurt 1997 (German)
- Glaser, Franz, Kelten-Römer-Karantanen, Klagenfurt: Geschichtsverein für Kärnten, 1998. (German)
- Harl,Ortolf, Der Stadtplan von Virunum nach Luftaufnahmen und Grabungsberichten. In: Jb. RGZM 36, 1989, 2, 521 ff. (city map, German)
- Piccottini, Gernot, Mithrastempel in Virunum, Klagenfurt: 1994 ISBN 3-85454-078-7 (German)
- Piccottini, Gernot, Die Römersteinsammlung des Landesmuseums für Kärnten, Klagenfurt: Verlag des Landesmuseums für Kärnten, 1996 (German)
- Piccottini,Gernot, Die Römer in Kärnten, Klagenfurt: Carinthia, 1989, pp. 168–183. ISBN 3-85378-333-3 (German)