Cetium
CE´TIUM a Roman municipium in the extreme east of Noricum, at the foot of mount Cetius, from which it derived its name. (Itin.Ant. p. 234; Gruter, Inscript. p. 462, where it is called Aelia Cetiensis.) Its exact site is only matter of conjecture.
[L.S]A municipium on the frontier road from Vindobona to Lauriacum, twice mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary and in the Passio sancti Floriani. In inscriptions it is referred to as municipium Aelium Cetium, which means that, like Carnuntum and Ovilava, it received the rights of a city under Hadrian. It must have enjoyed a certain importance as one of the eight Roman cities in the Noncum province, especially since it was ideally placed on the route to act as a supply post for the forward Danube fortifications.
Because the site has been built over in modern times, exploration of the ancient city has barely begun. Excavations carried out after WW II near the cathedral confirm the hypothesis that Cetium was in fact in the area of the so-called cloister quarter. The accuracy of this location is confirmed by findings of graves in the area.
Finds are for the most part preserved in the Staedtisches Museum at Sankt Pölten.
BIBLIOGRAPHYG. Pascher, Der römische Limes in Österreich 19 (1949) 129ff; R. Noll, Jahrbuch für Landeskunde von Niederösterreich 36 (1964) 61ff.
R. NOLL