SALODURUM
(Solothurn) Solothurn, Switzerland.
Site on the left bank of the Aare at the foot
of the Jura ridges (
It. Ant. 353.2;
Tab. Peut.;
CIL XIII,
5170 = Howald-Meyer no. 245). The military road from
Aventicum divides here, one branch continuing along the
Aare to Vindonissa, the other crossing the Jura to Augusta Raurica. From its very location a relay station and
river port, the vicus developed as a military post during
the 1st to the 4th c. In the 4th c. a fortress was built, a
link in the chain of defenses protecting the Rhone-Rhine
waterway. The vicus developed to the W towards Bellach, while the early and late military installations were in the area of the mediaeval town. Remains of the harbor have been found near Marktplatz-Roter Turin. Temples
to Jupiter and Apollo are attested by inscriptions.
The Late Roman fortress was bell-shaped, with its
base (ca. 150 m) along the river (main axis ca. 120 m;
area 1.32 ha). Parts of the walls and some towers are
visible (Westringstrasse, Löwengasse, Hauptgasse). One
bridge was located at the W corner of the fort, another
possibly on the site of the modern Wengibrücke. Finds
are in the Museum der Stadt Solothurn.
See also Limes, Rhine.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
F. Staehelin,
Die Schweiz in römischer
Zeit (3d ed. 1948) 309-11, 621; W. Drack, “Die archëologischen Untersuchingen auf dem Friedhofplatz,”
Jb.
Solothurnische Gesch. 21 (1948) 1-57
PI; E. Müller,
“Solothurn (Grabung 1964-65),” ibid. 38 (1965) 279-84
PI; summary:
Jb. Schweiz. Gesell. f. Urgeschichte 38
(1947) 64-67
PI; inscription:
RGKomm 40 (1959) 141
no. 52.
V. VON GONZENBACH
