Carnuntum
When we first arrived here Mariella told us about Carnuntum, a working archeological dig that includes reconstructions of Roman households and reenactments of Roman life. Since our study of Europe for geography class included getting more familiar with the Roman era, we were interested in taking a look. It has taken until now for us to get our act together and spend a day taking this field trip to some towns an hour southeast of Vienna that cover the old Roman civic and military metropolises. Founded in year 6 CE by Tiberius (later to become emperor of Rome) it became the capitol of Upper Pannonia and grew to a population of roughly 50,000 before fading away about 1500 years ago. The dig is very interesting, uncovering Roman villas and public baths. One villa was reconstructed on its original site after archeological studies were completed. It was rebuilt with period techniques, tools, and materials. This house is just open to wander through. It felt remarkably comfortable and homey.
While seeing these marvelous houses and baths emerging out of Austrian farm fields I suddenly realized that these were no older than still-functional Roman aqueducts or many of the wonders of Rome itself. Yet we can still see the treasures of Rome and use the marvels of their engineering. But only when we've maintained it. Carnuntum was abandoned 1500 years ago and slowly erased from the face of the earth. We can still dig it out, but it is gone. These other still visible and useful Roman wonders have been maintained over the centuries, never wholly abandoned. That makes an enormous difference.
In another town there is the Carnuntum Museum where we found a host from California who tried to convince Nathaniel to done some Roman legionary chain mail. No go, Nathaniel was just not interested in play-acting. All in all it was a beautiful day looking at what history lurks beneath Austrian soil. Fascinating.
Update: On the train ride home from Carnuntum I talked about our lack of care for modern infrastructure with Mary. That night, while we were sleeping, the I-35W bridge collapsed. We are praying for our home town today. ...Eric
Wednesday, 1 August 2007