It's amazing what you can do when you have the resources of an empire behind you and when you want to thank your mum for, well, everything. The Caesar Galerius, for example, had built a 10 acre palace and fortress for his mum or, at least, named it for her.
Felix Romuliana, now Gamzigrad, is located off the beaten path and is not on a major Roman road linking East to West. It speaks to how important it was to Galerius that he had built at his birthplace what essentially is a vanity project. I think he genuinely loved his mother, Romula.
FR is a rough square circuit of walls, once three stories + tall. Even now they are a good 10 feet tall. Enclosed within the walls several major buildings have been uncovered; imperial palace, baths, temples, and later Christian basilicas. But the ground level for most of the site is many feet above the exposed structures: there is lots more to discover. But, no surprise, funding is an issue. On that score Germany funded the excavation and partial reconstruction of the East Gate. Norway funded the clearing of vegetation along the circuit of the South wall.
FR is located on the side of a low hill within a bowl of slightly higher hills. It's a gently beautiful site of green undulating hills, fields, and lines of trees. No landscape drama here. On the ridge line of the low hill overlooking the site to the East are the burial mounds of Romula and Galerius. Seeing them there is why I think that this son genuinely loved his mother. I just found myself moved upon seeing them.
I do wonder, though, what about his father, what did Galerius think of him?
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