The wide flat agricultural lands carved out over centuries by the Danube stretch along its south bank to the east of Vienna in the direction of the Slovak border. On a windswept October day the local wind turbines were spinning at full whack. Just east of Vienna Airport and two thirds of the way to Bratislava lies the site of Petronell-Carnuntum. A significant Roman Town together with an adjacent military camp reflecting the strategic importance both of the location close to the northern border of the empire, and the transport super-highway of the Danube. There are many surviving monuments to Roman occupation and a really good museum.

Both the town and the castrum have their own, well-preserved and well-presented amphitheatres. Both are of banked earth with stone cavea and wall construction. The civilian structure with its slightly irregular shape seated some 12,000 and had an adjacent gladiator school where there is a reconstruction of a small training arena.

The military amphitheatre is a five minute drive away to the east. It seated 8,000 and retains interesting stonework, inscriptions and a drainage system which served a central water tank beneath the arena surface.