This, one of the key events in European history, brought to a shuddering halt the expansion of the Roman Empire under Emperor Augustus.
Thereafter, the prospect of defeating the Germanic tribes ended and for 450 years with one exception, the northern border was fixed on the rivers Rhine and Danube.
Only when the Emperor Trajan seized Dacia, modern Romania, in 101 AD, did the border move beyond the mighty Danube River.
We are in Vienna, ancient Vindobona, one of the major Roman defensive points on the limes and yesterday we drove east to visit Carnuntum.
Vindobona lies under the modern city but Carnuntum is covered with wheat fields and excavations have revealed a city that once had a population of at least 50,000.
It has three major components: a legionary fortress, a fort garrisoned by the Ala I Thracum Victrix, one of the crack cavalry units in the Roman army and a walled city.
There are two amphitheatres, one for the populace at large, the other for the army.
One of the rare features of Carnuntum, is that the houses and baths have been reconstructed on exactly the same location as they stood 2000 years ago.
We walked through the rooms of a wine merchant’s house and shop, and admired the home of a wealthy resident. In the public baths, hot water steamed in one room over the hypocaust system, and in another there was a cool bath adjacent to the communal lavatory.
The foundations of a hotel were conveniently located next to the Roman version of a fast-food shop.
We walked through ripening wheat fields to tour the massive amphitheatre that could accommodate 13,000 spectators.
Carnuntum is now a component of the Unesco World Heritage site of the Roman limes and its place in the history of the Empire is writ large in imperial visits.
From 172 AD to 175 AD, Marcus Aurelius lived in Carnuntum while directing the Marcomannic wars.
Following the death of Commodus 193 AD, the governor of the province of Upper Pannonia, Septimius Severus, was proclaimed Roman Emperor by the army of the Danube limes.
And in 308 AD, the future governance of the Empire under Diocletian was determined.
I couldn’t help the sensation of following historic footsteps as we looked down on the now empty amphitheatre.
