Continued From Alesia, Gallia Lugdunensis Part I Adjacent to the northern portico of the forum is one of the most interesting elements of Alesia, the so-called Monument of Ucuetis. This structure was built into the hillside, and so much of it is at a lower area than the forum. It seems to have been a…
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Most Recent Visit: May 2022 In antiquity, the chief settlement of the Mandubii was located on the plateau of the Mons Alisiensis, the modern Mont Auxois. It is likely the town which Caesar refers to as the Oppidum Mandubiorum. Today, the remains of the settlement are located just outside the French town of Alise-Sainte-Reine, which…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2018 The Roman town of Aquae Sextiae Salluviorum, on the site of present-day Aix-en-Provence, was founded by the proconsul Gaius Sextius Calvinus in 122 BCE, making it the oldest Roman settlement in Gaul. The ‘Aquae’ referred to a hot spring nearby, the ‘Sextiae’ to the name of the founder, and the…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2018. Valentia In antiquity, the French city of Valence was preceded by the Roman settlement of Valentia. Valentia was located at the second most important crossroads in the region, behind Lugdunum, where the Via Agrippa running between Lugdunum and Arelate intersected with a road running to the east toward Italy via…
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Continued From Glanum Part I Monumental Area Further on from the residential area of Glanum to the south is the monumental area, where many of the public buildings or the settlement were located. Immediately south of the bathing complex is what is described as being the curia, or some kind of town council or town…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2018 In most cases in Southern France, population centers continue to cluster around settlements that have existed since the Romans occupied the land, and in many cases, even before that. As such, Roman remains can often be found amongst the subsequent periods of occupation in modern cities and towns. Occasionally, though,…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2018 Over a thousand years before Avignon was the ‘City of Popes’, the focal point of a schism in the Roman Catholic church for which the city is most famous, it was the Roman town of Avennio (or Avenio). Avenio’s history, though, stretches back well before the Romans set their sights…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2018 As early as at least the 4th century CE, the site of the Roman town of Vienna (not to be confused with modern Vienna, Austria, which was called Vindobona during the Roman period) was the location of an oppidum of the Allobroges tribe. The location of Vienna on the Rhône…
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Continued from Lugdunum Part I Theater/Odeon Archaeological Area Adjacent to the museum is a complex that includes the theater, odeon, a sanctuary of Cybele, and a few other miscellaneous remains. This park is open every day from 7:00 to 21:00 during the summer (April 15 to September 15) and from 7:00 to 19:00 the rest…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2018. The modern city of Lyon lies at the confluence of the Saône (referred to as the Arar or Sauc-Onna in antiquity) and Rhône (Rhodanus, in antiquity) Rivers and is the third largest city in France behind Paris and Marseilles. In antiquity, the predecessor to Lyon, Lugdunum, was a similarly important…
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