VIRUNUM
Austria.
Situated NE of Klagenfurt, on the Zollfeld, near the town by the same name
on the E flood-free terraces of the Glan valley. It was
a favorable location; from the S came the road from
Aquileia which itself was of great importance for the
cultural and economic development of the E Alpine
area. From Virunum two important roads went N to
the Danube frontier. Finally, there was an E-W road
from Virunum in the Drau valley to the W via Teurnia
and Aguntum to the Brenner road (Via Claudia Augusta),
and in the E to Celeia which in turn connected to the
military road Aquileia-Carnuntum. Therefore Virunum
is mentioned both in the
Antonine Itinerary (276.5)
and in the
Peutinger Table (5.2). The place name is
evidently Celtic but not connected with the location
since no preceding settlement has been found. Rather,
Virunum was a new settlement which, after the occupation phase, took the place of the town on the Magdalensberg, the former political, economic, and religious center of Noricum. As Pliny (
HN 3.146) indicates, Virunum
belonged, with Celeia, Teurnia, Aguntum, and Iuvavum,
to the first series of new towns in Noricum and was constituted as municipium Claudium Virunum about A.D. 50. It never was a colonia, but became the seat of the imperial provincial administration of Noricum, at first
with a procurator as governor. This accounts for the
numerous municipal and provincial functionaries known
through their monuments; it also explains the high cultural level of the town, which surpassed all other municipia of Noricum. When legionary troops during the wars with the Marcomanni were transferred to Noricum,
the commander of the legion became the governor with
the title legatus Augusti pro praetore and had his seat of
government in Ovilava. During the administrative reforms under Diocletian, Virunum became the capital of the new province of Noricum mediterraneum, seat of the civilian governor (praeses).
Nothing further is known about the history of the
town from ancient literature. Until the wars against the
Marcomanni, Virunum evidently developed quietly, had
no garrison, and had never been fortified. During the
reign of Gallienus it must have suffered from invasions.
This is evidenced by archaeological research, which unfortunately has been discontinued.
The town plan indicates that the town was developed
according to a Graeco-Roman architectural plan. Its
main feature is two axes at right angles with roads (up to
14.5 m wide) crossing at right angles to form rectangular
insulae extending as far as the sloping terraced terrain permitted. The spiritual center of the town, the capitol and
the forum, which formed an architectural unit, were not
located in the geometric center, but toward the E. The
capitol was situated N, the forum S of the assumed cardo.
The over-all size was ca. 204 x 95 m. The temple area was
located on an artificially created terrace, surrounded on
three sides by walls; access was from the forum. In the
middle rose a large podium temple in antis. The three
niches inside suggest the veneration of the Capitoline
triad. To the W of the temple area the base for a large
monument was found. The forum was a large rectangular structure (ca. 120 x 95.5 m), opening on the capitol. A paved inner courtyard was framed on the long sides by peristyles behind which a series of large rooms of
different sizes was located. The side of entrance was
the narrow S side with its three gates. Toward the square
the full width was occupied by a long hall with apsidal
niches, probably a basilica with one nave. On the outside were four more rooms, some heatable, probably the offices of the municipal dignitaries (duumviri, aediles).
The size of the adjoining buildings has been determined, but only two insulae (W of the forum) have
been excavated: a) the small insula IV with a peristyle-like inner courtyard, heatable living rooms, stores on
the S side, and later baths: b) the so-called bath area,
a not quite appropriate designation for a multi-purpose
building almost 70 m square. It contains rooms from
different building periods (1st to 5th c. A.D.), among
them dwellings, stores, public rooms, and baths. The
baths were located midway on the W front, toward the
decumanus. In the SW corner was a meeting room of a
Dionysiac group. The large mosaic floor (ca. 30 m sq.)
of Dionysos and his followers (from the 3d c. B.C.)
found here represents one of the most beautiful finds
in Noricum. The bath area is known as the location of
numerous marble statues, mostly two-thirds life size,
copies from Greek originals of Classical times; also a
statue of Isis-Noreia, a national mother goddess, based
on a Classical prototype. These were, without exception,
the work of a sculpture workshop in Virunum at the
time of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. The bath area is
also important in furnishing a chronology for the whole
town, and for that reason has been published separately.
Among other public buildings the theater, which is
unique in the E Alpine countries, has been investigated.
The spectators' area which was built into the slope is
known, also the orchestra and the stage building with
a stage (35 x 6 m) constructed with a lavish use of
marble. The building period may be indicated by a
marble sculpture of Hadrian. On the same slope a little
farther N (at the E edge of town) are unexcavated
walls surrounding an area of elliptical plan (ca. 96 x 42 m), supposedly the amphitheater. At the N edge of town
a small Sanctuary of Jupiter Dolichenos had been excavated and a large bipartite podium temple. The extension of the town to the W is delineated by the graves found along today's federal highway, the extension to
the S is unknown. The built-up area must have been
ca. 1000 x 1000 m. There was a good water supply
(fountains and water pipes), a sewage system with masonry canals below the middle of the road, and a main canal 1.8 m high.
During the restless decades of late antiquity when
Germanic tribes repeatedly invaded the country (ca. 408
the Gothic king Alarich probably had his headquarters
in Virunum), the unfortified town lost its importance.
The population moved in part onto fortified hills in the
vicinity, and in the 5th c. Teurnia—located farther to the
W and fortified—became metropolis of Noricum. However, Virunum had become a bishopric. Early Christian
culture is evident in the relief on a sarcophagus with the
depiction of the Good Shepherd, and the churches on the
Grazer Kogel. This Kogel, located N of the town and
fortified in later times, harbored a rectangular hall
church and an apsidal church, both with the clergy bench
typical of Noricum. Toward the end of the 6th c. Virunum, owing to the Slavic invasion, faded away. It was never resettled.
Since the area has since been used for farming, no
buildings have been preserved. However, numerous antiquities have been built into churches and houses; a
small lapidarium is found in the octagon of the Maria
Saal cathedral, and the Landesmuseum für Kärten in
Klagenfurt also contains many finds. On the Zollfeld
itself the Prunnerkreuz, a chapel dating from 1692, is of
historical interest. It was built specifically to house in
its walls the then existing stone monuments from Virunum.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
C. Praschniker & H. Kenner,
Der
Bäderbezirk von Virunum (1947)
MPI; R. Noll,
Frühes Christentum in Österreich (1954) 105ff
PI; H. Vetters, “Virunum,”
RE IX A 1 (1961) 244ff
MP; H. Kenner in
EAA 7 (1966) 1186f.
R. NOLL
