{"id":5392,"date":"2019-02-06T15:32:41","date_gmt":"2019-02-06T22:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roamintheempire.com\/?p=5392"},"modified":"2023-01-07T15:11:57","modified_gmt":"2023-01-07T22:11:57","slug":"avennio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roamintheempire.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/06\/avennio\/","title":{"rendered":"Avennio, Gallia Narbonensis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bronze<\/a>
Bronze portrait of Julius Caesar displayed in the Mus\u00e9e Calvet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most Recent Visit:<\/strong> June 2018<\/p>\n

Over a thousand years before Avignon was the \u2018City of Popes\u2019, 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\u2019s history, though, stretches back well before the Romans set their sights outside the Italic peninsula. The area of Avennio was in the territory of the Cavari at some point before the Roman conquest, and was considered as such by the Romans, as evidenced by later attestations of Avennio Cavarum<\/em>. The 6th<\/sup> century CE writer Stephanus of Byzantium refers to Avennio as a city of Massalia<\/a>, which is a bit unclear in scope. It is sometimes surmised that a Greek emporium called Aouennion was founded there in the middle of the 6th<\/sup> century BCE by the Phocaean Greeks of Massilia which later expanded to a larger settlement of the Cavari. The designation by Stephanus, though, could also just reflect the growth of the Massalian sphere of influence to include the Cavari settlement.<\/p>\n

\"Colossal<\/a>
Colossal statue of Livia from the 1st or 2nd century CE. Displayed in the Mus\u00e9e Lapidaire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While Avennio remained an associated city within the territory of Massalia, which retained its independence even after Roman conquest of the surrounding area in 121 BCE, it does seem to have been subject also to Roman hegemony. In 49 BCE, when Massalia supported Pompey in Caesar\u2019s Civil War and was subsequently besieged and taken by Caesar, Massalia retained some autonomy but lost all of its territory to Rome, including Avennio, which was given Latin rights. Sometime after Caesar\u2019s death, perhaps as early as 43 BCE, Avennio received a colony and was given the name Colonia Julia Augusta Avennio<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Avennio doesn\u2019t get much mention in the intervening years, but, the visit of Hadrian in the 2nd<\/sup> century CE results in another colonial title being given to Avennio; Colonia Julia Hadriana Avenniensis<\/em>. Avennio seems to have been a relatively successful settlement; situated on the Via Agrippa between Arelate (Arles)<\/a> and Vienna (Vienne)<\/a> it benefitted from the trade running along that road. The Frankish and Alemanni invasions starting toward the end of the 3rd<\/sup> century CE, though, began to exact a harsh toll on Avennio as the city declined to a fraction of its population by the 5th<\/sup> century CE when it was sacked and then changed hands several times before finally being incorporated into the territory of the Burgundians.<\/p>\n