Present-day Wels, Upper Austria
Capital of the late Roman province of Noricum Ripense; diocese: Illyricum
Ovilava, a small settlement on the north bank of the Traun, prospered after the Roman takeover of Noricum, the Celtic kingdom of which it was a part, in 15 BC. It was recognized as a municipium by Hadrian (AD 117–38), and as a colony by Caracalla (211–17). Its status was further enhanced when Diocletian, c. 300, divided the province of Noricum into two, Noricum Mediterraneum (‘Inland Noricum’) and Noricum Ripense (the part bordering the Danube). Ovilava became the capital of Noricum Ripense, a position it held until the barbarian invasions of the early fifth century that swept away the Roman order of things in this part of the world.
Ovilava is buried deep beneath modern Wels, so very little is known of its topography. Enough has been found of the town wall to indicate that it enclosed a roughly square area of some seventy hectares. The forum has been tentatively placed in the south-west quarter, but not one of the public buildings that must have existed in a town of Ovilava’s exalted rank – leaving aside its metropolitan status, it was the only Roman colony in the whole of Noricum – has been identified so far.
Its size and its administrative function suggest a peak population for Ovilava of 5,000 to 6,000, putting it on a par with the Inland Norican capital of VIRUNUM.