History Like other later Roman settlements on the southwest coast of Sardinia, Nora owes its urban foundations to the establishment of a Phoenician colony at the site; though there was native Sardinian habitation at the site previously. Pausanias also describes a mythological foundation of the city; an Iberian named Norax crossed to Sardinia, conquered the…
Read More
History The exact date of the founding of Forum Julii, the ancient predecessor to modern Fréjus, is a bit unclear. The name suggests that it was founded by Julius Caesar, and as such, it is likely that it was founded somewhere around 49 BCE, perhaps as some sort of camp or supply station during Caesar’s…
Read More
Most Recent Visit: June 2018. The Roman town of Arelate (modern Arles) seems to have begun life as a Greek settlement known as Theline, sometime in the 6th century BCE. In 535 BCE, the settlement was captured by the Saluvii and renamed Arelate, a Gallic language reference to the settlement’s proximity to a marsh. The…
Read More
Continued From Vasio Vocontiorum Part I Puymin La Villasse is exited through the same way it is entered, and the entrance to Puymin is just directly across the road where the ticket is purchased. Immediately inside the park is another large residence, the Maison de l’Apollon Lauré (House of the Laurelled Apollo), sometimes referred to…
Read More
Most Recent Visit: June 2018. Tucked into a fertile agricultural valley about 7 kilometers to the west of the Rhône, along the L’Escoutay River, a tributary of the Rhône, are the remains of the Roman town of Alba Augusta Helviorum. The archaeological site is located just to the north of the present-day town of Alba-la-Romaine,…
Read More
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…
Read More
Continued From Vienna Part I Theater and Odeon A few minutes to the west of the Jardin Archéologique de Cybèle, at Rue du Cirque 7, is the ancient theater of Vienna. Like the two museums, the theater has the same opening hours and admission price scheme. Like many other relatively intact ancient theaters in Europe,…
Read More
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…
Read More
Most Recent Visit: June 2018. The site of the modern-day city of Jublains, France seems to have been inhabited by the Gallic Diablintes people (also referred to as the Aulercii Diaulitae) as a domestic site as early as the late 2nd century BCE. The town of Noviodunum (also known as Noeodunum or Noiodunum, and not…
Read More
Most Recent Visit: June 2017. Though now overshadowed by Palermo, and even nearby Catania, the ancient city of Syracusae (Syrakousai) was perhaps the most important city on the island of Sicily in antiquity. Syracusae was founded on the island of Ortygia by Corinthian colonists (as well as Locrian or Dorian colonists, though they, as a…
Read More