Carnuntum – the governor’s guard

(press release 2016)

Carnuntum is by far the largest archaeological landscape in entire Central and Southeastern Europe. In co-operation with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology and the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Federal State of Lower Austria set new international scientific standards with its project “Comprehensive prospection study of core area Carnuntum”.

After the gladiator school and early military camps, another sensational discovery causes furor. On the western edge of Bad Deutsch-Altenburg in the southern part of the governor’s palace, evidence of barracks harbouring the governor’s guards (equites and pedites singulares) was found. The barracks actually being attached to the palace suggest these guards were at the disposal of the governor of Pannonia Superior at all times.

Within the vast Roman Empire, this is so far the only place in which the governor’s seat and his guards could be located. Even in Rome, evidence of the Praetorian Guard is very poor. Only a minor structure in Lambaesis/Algeria might give similar indications, but it is in no way comparable to the extraordinary scientific data from Carnuntum.

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Credits

• Römerstadt Carnuntum – https://www.carnuntum.at/de
• Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology – https://archpro.lbg.ac.at
• Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik – https://zamg.ac.at
• Institut für Kulturgeschichte der Antike – https://www.oeaw.ac.at/antike
• 7reasons Medien GmbH – https://7reasons.net/