Virunum

Claudium Virunum was a Roman city in the province of Noricum, on today's Zollfeld in the Austrian State of Carinthia. Virunum may also have been the name of the older Celtic-Roman settlement on the hilltop of Magdalensberg nearby. Virunum is today a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church.HistoryMunicipium Claudium Virunum, or simply, Virunum, was founded under Emperor Claudius as the capital of the province of Noricum succeeding the town upon the hilltop of Magdalensberg, perhaps also taking its name from that settlement, which is widely believed to have been the royal capital city of the pre-Roman Celtic kingdom of Noricum, a town whose name is, as yet, not known. The new Roman foundation was situated on the main route from the Adriatic to the Danube, with a branch through south eastern Carinthia connecting Virunum with the Amber Road. Established on a flood-proof terrace on the edge of Zollfeld parts of the city stretched as far as Töltschach Hill in the east.The city had the Latin Right and was the seat of the provincial governor (procurator Augusti provinciae Norici) till the middle of the 2nd century. After the Marcomannic Wars (which the Romans called bellum Germanicum) the administration of the province was moved to Ovilava, today's Upper Austrian town of Wels, but the administration of the province's finances remained in Virunum. When Emperor Diocletian split the large province of Noricum, Virunum became the capital of the province of Noricum mediterraneum.