In yellow, our «Gallia Narbonensis»

Transcription

1 In yellow, our «Gallia Narbonensis»

2 The Roman Empire The first Provincia Romana, called «Gallia Narbonensis»

3 120 BC, the proconsul Cneius Domitius Ahenobarbus who came to annex the region, undertook the construction of a vast road (from Cadix to Rome) that crossed all of Transalpine Gaul. Taking his name, this road was called : Via Domitia.

4 He also founded the Colonia Narbo Martius (Narbonne), the future capital of Provincia (the first Roman Province created outside of Italy) that became the Provincia Narbonensis (Narbonnaise) under the Emperor Augustus. Cneius Domitius also founded Forum Domitii, situated not far from the present village of Montbazin, near Pézenas.

5 Baeterrae Piscenae Pézenas

6 The construction of ancient roads The Romans have proved for all their civil engineering works, knowledge and elaborate technique, using excellent sighting instruments. groma dioptra chorobate

7 In country areas, the road was just earth and not paved except in certain privileged sections (towns, fords ) and the ruts, when these are visible, are only the consequence of heavy traffic. Ambrussum the Via Domitia is marked by the passage of chariots

8 Via Domitia in country areas,shown here in the vine yards near the village of Pinet

9 Stopping places Along the road, hostels (mansiones) were placed about every 30km, (about the distance travelled in one day), either as part of the villages that existed before the construction of the road or as new constructions. In between these, about every 15 km, relays and posts were established (mutationes) to rest the men and change the horses. From the Rhone to the Alps, all these stations have since been well identified :

10 mansiones mutationes

11 «Table of Peutinger» the roman empire in 393 AC On this ancient map, we can find all the stations of our road, or of the roads of the whole empire.

12 Find the part of the «Tabula Peutingeriana» with your own country!

13 The goblets de Vicarello are in the form of small milestones, 9.5 to 15.3 cm high. They date from the period of Augustus. (1 st c. AD) They provide vertical lists of the relay stations of the VIA DOMITIA, with the number of miles that separate them, and the two terminal towns : Rome and Cadiz.

14 goblets de Vicarello

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17 Milestones To facilitate travels, along the ancient road were large stone milestones, (2 to 4 meters high) in the shape of columns, theoretically placed at every mile (1,480 meters). They indicated a distance relative to certain important towns of the itinerary and showed the name and the titles of the emperor under whose reign they were put in place. These milestones generally correspond to large road restoration or maintenance works. For the Domitian Way, one found milestones with the name Augustus (3 BC), Tiberius (32 AD), Claudius (41 AD) and Antonin the Pious (144 AD)

18 TIB CAESAR DIVI AVGVSTI F AVGVSTVS PONTIFEX MAXVMVS TRIBVNICIA POTESTATE XXXIII REFECIT

19 Via Domitia Milestones between Nimes et Beaucaire

20 DIVI.AVG.F.AVG, PONTIF.MAX, TRIB.POT.XXXI, REFECIT.ET, RESTITVIT, LXII LXII indicates this is the 62 Milestone after Narbonne, which is equivalent to 91,76 km

21 Milestone at Montady (French Prefecture no.34)

22 BRIDGES Ancient Bridge at Saint-Thibéry Equally important for the Via Domitia are the bridges, long bridges and fords that were more numerous than one might think. Every river crossing was managed in a way to ease passage. The bridge at Ambrussum in 1857 Today

23 Le pont d Ambrussum, Gustave COURBET 1857

24 Essentially military when it was created, the Via Domitia rapidly became a public road, one of the most important roads in the Roman Empire and also the most heavily used. The cursus publicus, the roman administration postal service created by Augustus in 27 BC and which was maintained until the end of its history, was the priority user. On this road highly appreciated by all, one travelled on foot, on horseback or by chariot

25 Messengers that carried official documents were called tabellari. These messengers used a simple carriage, called a cisium. A sort of light chariot on two wheels.

26 Main roads of the Roman Empire.

27 There is a legend that the spacing of a railway track is derived from the ruts in the paved road made by the passage of the chariot and war chariots used in the period of the Roman Empire. Every vehicle was forced to follow these ruts to preserve its wheels and Julius Caesar imposed this track width by law so that every vehicle that used the roads was not damaged by having different track widths.

28 An other main road :