Arelate

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amphitheater

Arelate ("the city in the marshes") is the ancient name of the southern French city ​​of Arles in the former Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis . Especially in late antiquity , the city was of supraregional importance. The chessboard-like structure of the city typical of Roman settlements can still be recognized today . The forum stood in the city center. There was a theater, of which considerable remains have been preserved, and a circus . Of the ancient buildings, the amphitheater in particular is very well preserved. There were two aqueducts . Constantine had large thermal baths built, some of which are still preserved today. Numerous mosaics and relief sarcophagi testify to the prosperity of the city . The city was at the crossroads of two important trade routes that explain part of its prosperity. From Italy, the Via Aurelia ran through the city and at the same time lay on the Rhone .

History of the city

the theater

A living place of the Ligurians probably already existed in the 10th century BC. BC. The ancient settlement was a Greek foundation of Phocaeans from Asia Minor . It was already in 535 BC. Destroyed by the Ligurians and in the 4th century BC Rebuilt. In 123 BC BC it came under Roman rule and experienced a first boom in the first century BC after it was connected to the port of Fossae Marianae . The city was part of the Narbonensis Province . In 49 BC Gaius Iulius Caesar equipped the place with seaworthy ships for the siege of Marseille . 46 BC The colony Colonia Iulia Paterna Arelate Sextanorum was founded by Caesar near the ancient Greek settlement . The executive officer of the colonization was Tiberius Claudius Nero . Veterans of the 6th Legion were settled in the colony . Under Augustus the city was expanded and received a forum and a theater. The amphitheater was built in Flavian times. The philosopher Favorinus was born in Arelate, probably around 80 AD . Under Antoninus Pius , the city received a circus .

Between 250 and 275 AD, the city was sacked twice. Traces of fire were found during excavations throughout the city. It is uncertain, however, with which historical events this devastation can be connected. It is known that the Alemanni and Franks had invaded Gaul. Between 260 and 274 AD Arelate was also part of the Gallic Empire . The city also had a Christian community early on. In the middle of the 3rd century the city became a diocese . Trophimus is named as the first bishop in later sources . Arelate played an important role especially in late antiquity . From about 308 to 312 AD, Emperor Constantine I resided here . In 314, the Christian Council of Arles , convened by the Emperor, took place in Arelate . It was the first important council in the West at all. In the 4th and 5th centuries, coins were minted in the city. At times, the city was in honor of Constantine II. , Who was born here, the name of Constantina . The name disappears after the ruler's death. From 353 AD the city was again named Constantia , after Konstans II , who had stayed in the city in the winter of 353–354 AD. Around 400 the provincial administration of Gaul was relocated here from Augusta Treverorum (Trier), as the security of the latter city could not be guaranteed due to constant German invasions and it was probably too far away from the center of power in Italy.

Honoratus of Arles

In 418 AD the Visigoths invaded the Narbonensis, which ended the province as an administrative unit. The administration of Gaul was then restructured. Arelate became the seat of the administration of the seven provinces , a dioecesis that had been established around 300. From 426 to January 16, 430, Honoratus von Arles was bishop in the city. He later became a saint of the Catholic Church. The city remained under Roman administration, but was ravaged by the Visigoths in AD 480. In 508 AD Arelate was liberated from the Franks and Burgundians, who besieged the city, by the Ostrogoth king Theodoric . The ruler restored the prefecture of Gaul. From 536 AD the city came under Frankish influence. However, the Franks did not support them any further because their center of power was further north. Since the middle of the 6th century, the city lost its importance and was only in the 11th / 12th. A local center again in the 19th century.

The oldest city

Parts of the Greek city were found and excavated in 1976–1987 and 1983–1989 during the construction of a parking garage in Jardin d'Hiver. Five phases could be distinguished from the 6th century BC. Until around 175 BC To date. During this time the place, which was once probably about 30 hectares in size, was abandoned. The place had streets that were lined up in a checkerboard pattern. The residential buildings consisted of dry clay brick masonry. The ceramics mostly come from local production, the shapes of which, however, partly borrow from Italian models. However, there were also remains of black and red-figure ceramics and of imports from other parts of the Mediterranean.

The Roman city

Arelate in the 1st century AD
Model of Arelate in the 4th century (Musée de l'Arles antique)

The ancient city consisted of different parts. The center was to the left of the Rhone , a little above at a point where the river turns to the west. The walled urban area was relatively small even for an ancient city and comprised an irregular rectangle about 300 by 400/500 meters. Beyond the city walls, residential development seems to have continued by around 100 to 200 m, especially in the south. In the southwest, a large circus was built in the 2nd century, which stood about 300 m south of the city walls, but was obviously built in a sparsely populated area. There were large necropolises, especially in the southeast. On the right side of the Rhone was another large residential area, now known as Trinquetaille . This part of the city was settled from the end of the 1st century AD and also equipped with a regular city map. It was apparently larger than the walled urban area (around 500 m × 600 m) on the left side of the Rhone. Here, too, there were other necropolises on the outskirts. There were few public buildings in this part of the city, but there were extensive port facilities and warehouses on the banks of the Rhone. Both parts of the city were connected by a bridge.

Remains of the aqueduct

city ​​wall

The city received a wall in the first century. It is well preserved, especially in the east, and is still partly up to the original height. There is also a city gate to the east, where the Via Aurelia led into the city. The city gate was protected by powerful, semicircular bastions. There were other semicircular bastions along the entire wall. The city wall in the north and south, however, is largely unknown. In the north there were some remains on the Rhone, which indicate that the wall made an arc to the north. The course in the south, however, remains very uncertain. Some stone remains that were found approx. 200 m south of the forum have been interpreted as the city wall. In the west the city bordered on the Rhone.

Aqueducts

Drinking water came into the city through two aqueducts . One of them led the water from the northern Alpilles , near Eygalières, into the city from 51 km and is remarkable because of the only slight gradient of less than one millimeter per meter. The other aqueduct came from Caparon and was about 11 km long. Both water pipes united in a water basin near Fontvieille . From there it ran as a line to the mills of Barbegal , which were also supplied with the water, from there it ran alongside the Via Aurelia. In the city it ran underground along the Decumanus . It led to a water tower near the amphitheater. Within the city there was an extensive network of canals and lead pipes which could be used to supply wells, cisterns and some private households.

Portico on the north side of the forum, remains still pending today
The Venus of Arles
This obelisk once adorned the spina of the circus

City construction

The chessboard-like structure of the city , which is typical of Roman settlements , can still be recognized today , but there are also deviations from it that may indicate pre-Roman structures. The forum stood in the city center. There are hardly any findings from the time of Gaius Julius Caesar, who raised the city to a colony. The oldest surviving construction activity, however, dates to under Augustus . Above all, Arelate now received a forum and a theater, as well as a city map with streets crossing at right angles.

Forum

The forum stood at the intersection of Cardo and Decumanos, the two main streets of a Roman city. It was thus in the center of the ancient city. The building was 190 m long and 60 m wide. It consisted of a large courtyard surrounded by porticos. The columns were eight meters high and had Corinthian capitals. The main entrance was in the east. In the north there was another gate, the portico of which has been partially preserved to this day in almost full height. It may also be the remains of a temple. Below the forum there are crypto portals that frame a free space on three sides. They were used as a cellar in the Middle Ages and are therefore very well preserved. There are three halls in the middle of which there are arcades that support the vaulted ceiling. They practically form two galleries each. There are passages to the inner courtyard. The function of the system is controversial, but it was perhaps a memory. The forum was certainly once richly decorated. There was a marble copy of a Clipeus Virtutis , a golden shield, the original of which was placed in the Curia Iulia in Rome. A portrait of Gaius Caesar (grandson of Augustus) was also found in the forum . The forum was still in operation in the 5th century AD, Sidonius Apollinaris visited it and described it in one of his letters ( Epistulae I 11, 7–8). Perhaps a macellum (market place) followed to the north of the forum . Of these, about seven shops with arcades that directly adjoin the forum walls have been preserved. In the middle of the row of shops there is a wide rectangular building, which is either the remains of a temple or a gate that once connected the forum with the macellum. The former dimensions of the macellum are unknown.

In the west there was an elongated space with an exedra on each short side. The system was on a higher level than the actual forum. Again to the west of it, the Forum adiectum joined. Which in turn was higher and was surrounded by columns. Perhaps in the middle stood the Capitolium , the main temple of the city.

theatre

The theater was also built under Augustus. The building had a diameter of 102 m and once held around 10,000 spectators. 33 schemes can be reconstructed in the auditorium. This part of the building, the cavea, was decorated on the outside with a series of arcades on three floors. The stage front was once decorated with around 100 columns. A number of first-class sculptures were found in the theater. Underneath is a larger than life portrait of Augustus, the so-called Venus von Arles , which is a Roman copy of a work by Praxiteles , statues of dancers and a reclining Silenus . Under Augustus, thermal baths were also built in the city center. The hypocausts were found from other thermal baths and probably date to the 3rd or 4th century.

amphitheater

The city's amphitheater was built in Flavian times. It is 136 m × 107 m in size and covers an area of ​​11,500 m². The facade is 21 m high and consists of two rows of arcades. The main entrance was in the west and thus oriented towards the forum. It offered space for around 21,000 spectators.

bridge

The city had a bridge that connected the city to the suburb on the other bank of the Rhone. The 280 m long building is described by ancient authors and there was even a representation of the building in Ostia. On each bank of the Rhone there was a 45 m long stone construction that rested on arches. The bridge part in the middle was a pontoon bridge , i.e. a boat bridge.

Triumphal arches

There were two or three triumphal arches in the city. One of them stood until 1684, but was then torn down. However, it is well known from old drawings and consisted of the actual arch with two columns each to the left and right of the gate, each of which stood on a pedestal and had Corinthian capitals. The arch bore a later inscription, which is not understandable from the old drawings. Another arch is known from old descriptions and is said to have been richly decorated with decorations. In fact, some reliefs were found in the city that come from an arch and can be assigned to this or a third arch.

Circus

Another major construction project was the Circus, which was built under Antoninus Pius. In any case, the wood used in the construction of the complex was not felled before AD 149. The plant was about 450 m long and 101 m wide. It was rebuilt under Constantine I. The spina was torn down and replaced by a marble system. An obelisk was probably also erected here during this period.

Residential development

Europe, mosaic from Arles

Residential buildings were found throughout the city. The large number of high-quality mosaics throughout the city is remarkable. Over 100 mosaic floors have been found so far, many with figurative representations.

In the Trinquetaille , parts of a large, very richly furnished building were excavated between 1982 and 1984, which was probably inhabited from the end of the first century to the sixth century AD. A large part of the rooms was decorated with mosaics. There were stone ornaments (e.g. a Corinthian chapter) and fragments of marble statues. Several construction phases could be distinguished. A well-preserved mosaic (7.60 m × 7.70 m) is remarkable, which shows the seated aeon with the zodiac signs (as a hoop) in the center . Around this middle field you can find erotes in the corner fields, as well as nereids on marine animals.

Another richly furnished building was uncovered in 1987 when an underground car park was built on rue Pierre Brossoltte . The house has been rebuilt several times, which means that no one has a clear idea of ​​the floor plan of the house from any construction phase. A total of seven construction phases were distinguished, ranging from pre-Augustan times to late antiquity. The house was apparently abandoned in the 6th century. This house was also richly decorated with mosaics, which are geometric examples. The oldest mosaics date back to the Augustan period, one of which is an opus sectile floor. The figural marble inlays, which in turn demonstrate the high standard of the house furnishings, are remarkable.

Sarcophagus with a hunting scene

Necropolis

There were extensive cemeteries around the city. The necropolis known as Alyscamps stretched along especially in the southeast . Today there are still numerous undecorated sarcophagi over a length of about 500 m. Numerous sarcophagi decorated with reliefs also come from the city's necropolises, which in turn prove the prosperity of the city's residents. Many of the sarcophagi were probably produced in Italy, Greece or Asia Minor. In later times there also seems to have been local production. They date from the 2nd to the 4th century AD. Gravestones date back to the 6th century. Their inscriptions and those on the sarcophagi are an important source for the residents of the city. There were also some examples of sculptures that must have once adorned more elaborate grave structures. The figure of a Medea deserves special mention here. In the necropolis there were also mausoleums, some of which could be excavated. Various churches were built in the Alyscamps necropolis during Christian times.

Arelate in late antiquity

Baths of Constantine: Caldarium

The so-called thermal baths of Constantine , also known as the Palais de Trouilles , may have been built by Constantine I. Parts of its walls are still up to the original height, but the attribution to Constantine is nowhere near as certain as the modern name suggests. The semicircular end of the caldarium with swimming pool can still be seen today, followed by the actual caldarium (warm bath) and the tepidarium (lukewarm pool), as well as remains of the frigidarium (cold water). The exact dimensions of the bath to the south have so far been little explored, but there seems to have been a hall and then an exedra. Overall, the building extended about 50 m to the south.

To the south of the thermal baths there was a large hall (21 m × 57 m), the walls of which are still up to 15 m high. The hall had an apse on the east side and a main entrance on the west side. In the upper part there were nine windows on the long sides. The function of the room is controversial, but it may be a throne room that was part of a larger palace complex. Emperor Constantine stayed in the city from 307 to 317 AD and it can be assumed that he had a palace built there. However, this is not mentioned in written sources. Only at the beginning of the 6th century is a palace mentioned in connection with Bishop Caesarius ( Life of Caesarius , I, 29), in which the Visigoths are said to have lived.

Several churches are known, but little of the architecture has been preserved. The predecessor of the Romanesque church of St-Trophime d'Arles probably dates back to the 5th century. The Basilica Sancti Stephani was dedicated to the city's patron and stood on today's town hall square next to the ancient forum. Only a few remains of the building have survived. In 524 the Basilica Sanctae Mariae was founded, which is believed to be under the current Church of Notre-Dame-de-la-Major , near the Circus. In the Vita of Caesarius of Arles (died 542 AD) three monasteries and other associated churches are mentioned. The Basilica sancti Genesii was dedicated to St. Genesius of Arles and was probably the predecessor of the Church of St. Honorat . The Basilica Sancti Petrie et Pauli was founded near the Via Aurelia in 530 AD . This building is also not preserved, but there are numerous sarcophagi and inscriptions that are probably connected with the building.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Arelate  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Arelate  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Suetonius : Tiberius, 4
  2. Droste: Arles , pp. 114–115
  3. ^ Roman Mints and Officina
  4. ^ Droste: Arles , p. 119
  5. ^ Droste: Arles , pp. 15-16
  6. ^ Droste: Arles , 70
  7. ^ Rothe, Heijmans: Arles, Caru, Camargue , pp. 357-358
  8. ^ Droste: Arles , 88-89
  9. ^ Droste: Arles , 44-45
  10. ^ Droste: Arles , 84-86
  11. picture of the mosaic
  12. Rothe, Heijmans: Arles, Caru, Camargue , pp. 652-663
  13. Rothe, Heijmans: Arles, Caru, Camargue , pp. 644–651
  14. ^ Rothe, Heijmans: Arles, Caru, Camargue , p. 509
  15. Droste: Arles , 122-125
  16. ^ Droste: Arles , 127-130
  17. ^ Droste: Arles , 139

Coordinates: 43 ° 40 ′ 36 "  N , 4 ° 37 ′ 48"  E