FAVIANIS
(Mautern) Austria.
Established as
a cohors milliaria on the Danube opposite Krems. It is
one of the castella between the legionary camps at Vindobona and Lauriacum in the chain of Noricum's border
fortifications. Possibly a smaller construction preceded
it in the second half of the 1st c. A.D. Repair work from
the time of Valentinian indicates that the structure remained unchanged in size into late antiquity. Excavations
as well as the plan of the modern town give some idea
of the location and extent of the castellum. The W wall
is partly preserved in its N section; the E front is indicated by a rise in the ground. Proximity to the river
may have made necessary two fortification ditches of
masonry on the N front. Details of the inner plan cannot be ascertained because the area is built over. Maximum dimensions of the castellum were ca. 270 by 180 m.
The cohors I Aelia Brittonum is known to have been
the garrison in the 2d c. A.D. In the 4th c. part of Legio
I Noricorum, which Diocletian had reorganized, was stationed here. In the
Notitia Dignitatum (34.41) a “praefectus legionis Liburnariorum primorum Noricorum,
Fafianae,” is mentioned, the first reference to the place
in ancient literature.
Around the castellum an extensive camp village developed over the years, of which several villas, domestic
buildings, etc., are known. There are several well-preserved cellars with slot-shaped windows and wall niches.
At the edge of the settlement are extensive necropoleis,
especially from the late period, some with rich offerings.
Some of the graves are clearly Christian. The inscription on a curse tablet found in one necropolis suggests
that a small sanctuary there may have been dedicated
to Dispater and Aerecura.
Two large buildings at the edge of the ancient town
were discovered in 1958-59: the first, a rectangular building (14.5 x 21 m) contained the characteristic semicircular clerics' bench with the altar in front of it and
was probably a hall church; the second, a rectangular
building (21 x 36 m), equipped for heating, is assumed
to be the “monasterium . . . iuxta muros” mentioned by
Eugippius (c. 22.4). These buildings are very likely
connected with the activities of Severinus, in the record
of whose life as recorded by Eugippius, Favianis is the
place name that occurs most frequently. Here Severinus
built the largest of his monasteries and to this place he
brought refugees from the upper Danube. Favianis
became an evacuation center when Noricum Ripense
was evacuated by military orders from Rome in 488.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
H. Stiglitz, “Römische Lager und frühmittelalterliche Siedlungen am norischen Limes,”
JOAIBeibl 46 (1961-63) 158ff
PI; id.,
Führer durch das
römische Mautern an der Donau (1963)
PI; R. Noll,
Eugippius: Das Leben des heiligen Severin (1963) passim.
R. NOLL
