I must not omit to give you a copy of a singular inscription on the
tomb of a mint-master which was found in _Lyons_, and is preserved
entire:
NOBILIS TIB. CÆSARIUS AVG. SER ÆQ. MONET HIC
AD QVI LOCIT JVLIA ADEPTA CONJUNX ET
PERPETUA FILIA D.S.D.
The most ancient money which has been found in and about this city, is
the little coin of _Mark Antony_; on one side of which is represented
the Triumvirate; on the other, a Lion, with the word _Lugudani_ under
it; on each side of the Lion are the letters A and XL. The antiquarians
here think those letters marked the value of the piece, and that it was
about forty _sous_; but is it not more probable, that this was only the
mint-master's touch?
Nothing can be a stronger proof of the importance of this city in the
time of the Romans, than the immense expence they were at in erecting
such a number of grand aquæducts, one of which was eighteen leagues in
length; many parts of them are still visible; and it appears that they
spent for the reparation of them at _one_ time, near one thousand
talents; and here it was that the four grand Roman highways divided; one
of which went directly to the sea, and another to the _Pyrenees_.
_Agrippa_, who was the constructor of most of these noble monuments of
Roman grandeur, would not permit the _Lyonoise_ to erect any monument
among them to his memory; and yet, his memory is, in a very particular
manner, preserved to this day in the very heart of the city, for in the
front of a house on the quay _de Villeroy_, is a medallion of baked
earth, which, I think, perfectly resembles him; sure I am it is an
unquestionable antique; it is a little disfigured indeed, and disgraced
by his name being written upon it in modern characters. But there is
another monument of _Agrippa_ here; it is part of the epitaph of an
officer or soldier of the third cohort, whose duty it was to take an
account of the expence of each day for the subsistence of the troops
employed to work on the high-ways, and this officer was called _A.
Rationibus Agrippæ_.
There are an infinite number of Roman inscriptions preserved at _Lyons_,
among which is the following singular one:
DIIS INIQVIS QUI ANIMVLAM
TVAM RAPVERVNT.
I have already told you of a modern monument erected by the _Lyonoise_,
and now, with grief and concern, I must tell you of an ancient one which
they have demolished! it was a most beautiful structure, called the tomb
of the Two Lovers; that, however, was a mistake; it was the tomb of a
brother and sister named _Amandas_, or _Amans_, for near where it stood
was lately found the following monumental inscription: