Roman city unearthed in Austria after two millennia

Researchers in Lower Austria, near St. Pantaleon-Erla, discovered the remains of a Roman city that housed around 8,000 people.

A team from the Forum Donaulimes, the University of Innsbruck, and other institutions used geophysical surveys to map a systematically planned settlement complete with streets and a large amphitheater. The city covered 25 to 30 hectares and existed near a Roman garrison of only 500 soldiers, making its size unique for a fort of that scale within the Roman Empire.

Archaeologists also found evidence of multiple military installations at the site, including two stone forts and an earlier wood-earth camp. These installations likely controlled a Danube River crossing and facilitated trade between the Danube and Vltava rivers. Researchers speculate the city might be Claudivium, a place mentioned by the geographer Claudius Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD, though this remains unconfirmed.

The city abruptly ended around 180 AD, coinciding with the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and a peace agreement ending the Marcomannic Wars. Afterwards, the area was not resettled, preserving the Roman structures remarkably well. However, ongoing agricultural activity threatens to gradually destroy the site, prompting calls for further investigation and potential monument protection.