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Introduction Religion Tombs |
The ancient name of Solothurn was Salodurum. The name is found in the Itinerarium Antonini, on the Tabula Peutingeriana, and in inscriptions. The city presented similarities with Olten: it was situated on the river Aare, a settlement started to develop early, and a bell-shaped fortress was built in the fourth century, possibly in the years 325-330 AD.
Plan of Solothurn with archaeological sites. Nold-Wullschleger 2011, Abb. 2.
Blue: Roman shore; red: walls of the vicus; red dots: presumed Roman bridge; green: Löwengasse 6 and 8; grey: wall of the castrum;
A: excavation Kino Elite; B: Vigier-Hof; C: excavation Hauptgasse 42.Roman objects, including sarcophagi and inscriptions, were discovered as early as the 16th century. An outstanding discovery was a portrait of a man from the late second century, presenting similarities with portraits of Commodus and Clodius Albinus. A head of a Satyr may, in view of the open mouth, have decorated a fountain - but perhaps rather in the 16th century than in antiquity.
Portrait of a man, found in 1708. Marble. H. 0.335. Late-Antonine.
Landesmuseum, Zürich. Photo: Neukom 2002, Taf. 17.
Head of a satyr, found in 1870, now lost. Limestone. C. 0.33 x 0.33. Amiet 1870, Taf. XVII,2.The remains of the settlement were in the area of the old town centre, covering an area of 350 x 500 m. As in Olten the remains lie buried beneath the later city. There may have been a bridge at the south end of the settlement. Many wooden buildings of the early settlement were destroyed by a fire in the later first century, to be replaced with buildings of stone and timber framing. The fortress measured 152 m. along the river Aare x 117 m. The wall was 3.20 m. thick.
View of Solothurn. Photo: Kanton Solothurn.
Part of the wall of the fortress along the river Aare, in the Löwengasse. Photo: Google Maps.
Introduction
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Literature
Amiet 1863; Amiet 1870; Amiet 1880; Amiet 1883; Meisterhans 1890; Heierli 1905, 68-80; Tatarinoff 1940; Drack-Meyer 1948; Glutz-von Blotzheim 1955; Müller - Roth-Rubi - Stampfli 1975; Spycher 1982; Drack-Fellmann 1988, 510-513; Drack-Fellmann 1991, 246-250; Spycher-Schucany 1997; Schucany 1999; Spycher 1999; Spycher 2000; Schwarz 2000; Neukom 2002, nrs. 17, 67; Nold-Wullschleger 2011; Backman 2011; Kakoschke 2014; Kakoschke 2017; Wullschleger 2021.
Plus: Jahrbuch der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte 56 (1971), 227-229; 68 (1985), 260-261; 73 (1990), 220-221; Jahrbuch für Solothurnische Geschichte 38 (1965), 279-284.
[29-Dec-2023]
