{"id":5423,"date":"2019-02-20T07:58:06","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T14:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roamintheempire.com\/?p=5423"},"modified":"2025-03-22T19:11:47","modified_gmt":"2025-03-23T02:11:47","slug":"glanum-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roamintheempire.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/20\/glanum-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Glanum, Gallia Narbonensis – Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Northern<\/a>
Northern area of Glanum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

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, ancient settlements are abandoned and never reoccupied, leaving them free of the layers of construction in the intervening years. The site of Glanum is an example of this fortuitous course of development. Located about 2 kilometers south of the center of Saint-R\u00e9my-de-Provence, a town perhaps most famous as setting of Vincent van Gogh\u2019s The Starry Night<\/em>, the archaeological site of Glanum is largely free of the dense modern construction that often hinders large-scale archaeological excavations, and as such, a significant portion of Glanum has been excavated and is available to visit.<\/p>\n

\"House<\/a>
House of Atys.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Prior to the Roman conquest of the area, the land belonged to the Celto-Ligurian Salluvii tribe (also called the Salyens or Salyi) who seem to have had a permanent settlement at the location of Glanum, which at the time was called Glanon (or \u0393\u039b\u0391\u039d\u0399\u039a\u03a9\u039d in Greek) dating back to at least the 6th<\/sup> century BCE. Among that evidence is pottery produced in Massalia<\/a>, showing contact and trade between the two sites dating back at least that far, which is important to note because of the heavy Hellenistic influence in the settlement. The impetus for the settlement of the valley seems to be access to a healing spring sacred to the Gallic god Glanis, from which the name of the settlement was derived.<\/p>\n

While it remained a town of the Salluvii, by the 2nd<\/sup> century BCE, the town seems to have developed a heavy Hellenistic flavor with the construction of several public and private buildings in a style that would not be out of place in a Greek settlement of the time. Though heavily Hellenized, the town still had some very Gallic elements, as posts and lintels used for the display of trophy heads have been found at the site as well. The Salluviian relationship with Massalia soured considerably in the latter stages of the 2nd<\/sup> century CE, with open conflict between the two eventually pushing Massalia to call in the assistance of Rome in 125 BCE. The Salluvii suffered one defeat at the hands ofof the consul Marcus Fulvius Flaccus that same year, and were definitively defeated by Gaius Sextius Calvinus at their chief city of Entremont<\/a> (in the northern suburbs of present day Aix-en-Provence) in 123 BCE. The defeat at Entremont brought the territory of the Salluvii under the control of the Romans. Around this time, Glanum seems to have suffered a destruction event in which many of the buildings of the settlement were damaged or destroyed, no doubt related to the conflict between the Salluvii and Romans.<\/p>\n

\"Residential<\/a>
Residential area of Glanum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The construction of the Via Domitia about 118 BCE, which passed by Glanum, seems to have positively affected the settlements prospects and lead to a period of prosperity in the waning years of the 2nd<\/sup> century CE. Hellenistic constructions seemed to have flourished during this period. In 90 BCE, the Salluvii rebelled against Roman rule, and the archaeological record again displays evidence of a destruction level coinciding with that general timeframe, and public buildings seem to have been destroyed or heavily damaged at the time, halting the development of the settlement somewhat. In 49 BCE, Masallia was conquered by Caesar after siding with Pompey in the civil war between the two, the absence of the independent, Greek influence of Massalia in the environs of Glanum paved the way for a stronger level of Romanization. Marcus Livius Drusus Libo is supposed to have settled a colony at Glanum about 4 BCE, which is reflected in the name that Pliny the Elder uses for the settlement; Glanum Livii.<\/p>\n

Under Augustus, Glanum was given status as an Oppidum Latinum<\/em> of Narbonensis, which bestowed Latin rights upon the citizens of Glanum. This period during the late 1st<\/sup> century BCE and early 1st<\/sup> century CE saw large-scale, monumental building projects undertaken. Building seems to have continued at a relatively steady pace through the 1st<\/sup> century CE, but by the 2nd<\/sup> century CE, construction appears to have been negligible. Glanum seems to have gone into a period of decline at this time, probably a victim of the prosperity of larger nearby settlements like Avennio<\/a>, Arelate<\/a>, and Nemausus<\/a> (modern Avignon, Areles, and N\u00eemes, respectively). In 260 CE, Glanum was sacked by the Alamanni and the site was largely abandoned. The inhabitants that stayed in the area instead decided to settle a few kilometers away at a site that would become Saint-R\u00e9my-de-Provence. There was some minor occupation on the site in the 5th<\/sup> century CE, but, for the most part it was abandoned and eventually covered in alluvial sediment and mud.<\/p>\n