Today I will take you for a trip in time. We will move back to the times of the Roman Empire. You already know from our previous trips that the Roman Empire was very large.
We will begin our journey in the Swiss town called nowadays Windisch. Our aim will be to visit the Roman legion camp of Vindonissa.
The camp was large since a Roman legion would include between three and five thousand men. Not mentioning all the administration around them. This is what Vindonissa looked like when it was at its full splendour.
The round shape on the left was the theater. A bit like the Colosseum in Rome. Just smaller. The upper part was made of wood so today we can only see the foundations.
But if you look at one of the side entries and you close your eyes, you can easily imagine the gladiators who enter there to fight fiercely against other slaves or wild animals.
The theater was built with stones, found most probably in the neighbouring fields.
Because when you need to feed five thousand men, you need fields. But even more - you need water. And to bring water to their camps, Romans used aqueducts. One of them is still active today.
Obviously, it is no longer used by the local utilities (though it was two hundred years ago!) but the water is still moving inside the ancient pipes.
One interesting thing is that to build the aqueduct, which was several kilometers long, Romans used a special device called chorobates. The pendula allowed to ensure that it is standing straight.
The binoculars on the top allow to check if the other end of the pipe is in the right position.
Shall we check? Everything seems to be in order.
The main part of the camp was of course surrounded by a wall. To enter inside, one had to pass through a gate. The gates in Vindonissa were of course not as impressive as Porta Nigra, but still they inspired respect.
Of course, this is only a reconstruction. All that remains from the Southern gate are its foundations.
Inside the camp, the most prominent houses belonged of course to the military leaders, the centurions.
Unlike their soldiers who lived together, cooked themselves and generally did not enjoy much of luxury, the Roman officers had large houses with well equipped kitchens and slaves to take care of them.
If your imagination is not working today at full speed, you can always sneak into this magic binocular.
I hope that you have enjoyed our visit in Vindonissa. I was really impressed by the way the site is organised. I particularly appreciated all the visualisations. In one moment we can see the relief of the location ...
... a minute later this is the plan of the Roman legion camp ...
... that converts in a glimpse of an eye in the plan of modern Windisch.
A history that continues beyond the time and space.
We will begin our journey in the Swiss town called nowadays Windisch. Our aim will be to visit the Roman legion camp of Vindonissa.
The camp was large since a Roman legion would include between three and five thousand men. Not mentioning all the administration around them. This is what Vindonissa looked like when it was at its full splendour.
The round shape on the left was the theater. A bit like the Colosseum in Rome. Just smaller. The upper part was made of wood so today we can only see the foundations.
But if you look at one of the side entries and you close your eyes, you can easily imagine the gladiators who enter there to fight fiercely against other slaves or wild animals.
The theater was built with stones, found most probably in the neighbouring fields.
Because when you need to feed five thousand men, you need fields. But even more - you need water. And to bring water to their camps, Romans used aqueducts. One of them is still active today.
Obviously, it is no longer used by the local utilities (though it was two hundred years ago!) but the water is still moving inside the ancient pipes.
One interesting thing is that to build the aqueduct, which was several kilometers long, Romans used a special device called chorobates. The pendula allowed to ensure that it is standing straight.
The binoculars on the top allow to check if the other end of the pipe is in the right position.
Shall we check? Everything seems to be in order.
The main part of the camp was of course surrounded by a wall. To enter inside, one had to pass through a gate. The gates in Vindonissa were of course not as impressive as Porta Nigra, but still they inspired respect.
Of course, this is only a reconstruction. All that remains from the Southern gate are its foundations.
Inside the camp, the most prominent houses belonged of course to the military leaders, the centurions.
Unlike their soldiers who lived together, cooked themselves and generally did not enjoy much of luxury, the Roman officers had large houses with well equipped kitchens and slaves to take care of them.
If your imagination is not working today at full speed, you can always sneak into this magic binocular.
I hope that you have enjoyed our visit in Vindonissa. I was really impressed by the way the site is organised. I particularly appreciated all the visualisations. In one moment we can see the relief of the location ...
... a minute later this is the plan of the Roman legion camp ...
... that converts in a glimpse of an eye in the plan of modern Windisch.
A history that continues beyond the time and space.
No comments:
Post a Comment