are also the ruins of a triumphal arch, together with a well-preserved
and most interesting mausoleum (Fig. 8).
These monuments are the sole surviving remains of the Gallo-Roman town
of Glanum Livii, a flourishing colony under the Romans, surrounded with
walls and adorned with temples, aqueducts, and public buildings, of
which some faint traces only now exist. The chief employment of the
inhabitants was to supply stones from quarries in the neighbourhood for
the buildings in Arles and elsewhere. The town was destroyed by the
Goths in 480.
The triumphal arch has only one opening, which is rather low in
proportion, and is flanked by fluted pillars of which the caps are gone.
On each side of the arch are well sculptured bas-reliefs representing
captives in chains accompanied by women. The flanks have niches, but no
statues remain.
Mérimée admires the archivolt of the archway, which he calls a garland
of fruit and flowers sculptured with the same perfection of imitation,
with the same taste and
[Illustration: FIG. 8. TRIUMPHAL ARCH AND MAUSOLEUM, ST REMY.]
variety of details, as is observed in the Gothic period. The arch is
about 40 feet long by 18½ feet wide and 25 feet to the under side of the
vault.
The mausoleum stands a few yards from the arch. The main part is square,
the lower portion forming a pedestal set upon a base, which measures
about 22 feet each way, and the upper portion being an open story with
four Corinthian engaged columns at the angles. The whole is crowned with
a circular top composed of ten Corinthian pillars, the entablature of
which supports a cupola originally covered with palm leaf scales. The
height of the monument is about 60 feet. The podium is ornamented with
fine bas-reliefs, which Mérimée describes as representing--(South) a
hunt; (East) a Battle of Amazons; (West) the death of Patrocles; (North)
a Cavalry engagement. The figures of the upper storys are also richly
carved. Under the dome stand two draped statues. The following
inscription is engraved on the architrave of the north side:
SEX. L.M. IVLIEI. C.F. PARENTIBUS. SVEIS.
Sextus, Lucius, Marcus, Julii, Curaverunt fieri parentibus
suis--(Sextus, Lucius, Marcus, of the Julii, have caused this monument
to be constructed to the memory of their relatives).
Various dates are assigned by different authors to these monuments; but
probably Mérimée is right in considering the arch at least of about the
same date as that of Orange.
This mausoleum and similar monuments, as will be hereafter noticed, have
evidently had a considerable influence on the forms of the early
Mediæval church steeples of Provence.
ARLES.--We have now arrived at the capital of Roman Gaul--the famous
city of Arelate or Arles. It is supposed to have been founded by the
Greeks from Massilia as a trading centre, and had become an important
town before the time of Cæsar. The situation occupied was a very
advantageous one, being at the point of the Delta of the Rhone, where
the bifurcation of the river commences. The town is also supposed to
have been in communication with an interior navigable Lagoon in the time
of the Romans, so that commodities could be conveyed by water with great
facility in all directions. Arles thus formed a valuable mercantile
centre. The population is believed to have reached 100,000. Here Cæsar
had the galleys constructed which he required for the siege of Massilia.
After taking that town he sent Tiberius to establish a colony at Arles.
With Constantine Arles was a favourite city, and he made it the capital
of Gaul. The town was at that time divided by the river into two
sections, a part being on each side. These Constantine united by a
bridge of boats. An abundant water supply was brought by aqueducts from
the mountains, and conducted across the river by means of syphon pipes
of lead, several of which have been found with the name of the maker
stamped upon them, and are now to be seen in the Museum.
Ausonius calls Arles the “Gallula Roma Arelas,” and praises its
hospitable ports, which received the riches of the Roman world, and
spread them in turn to the cities of Gaul and Aquitania. So important a
city could not escape the successive attacks of the Goths, Franks, and
Saracens. By these invaders her splendid edifices were all nearly
destroyed, as was entirely the fate of those at Avenio and Massilia. But
Arles was not quite so unfortunate as the last named cities, and still
possesses some imposing though sadly ruined remnants of her former
greatness.
Of the existing remains by far the most important is the Amphitheatre.
The walls forming the complete circuit and a large part of the seats of
the interior are still preserved. The exterior (Fig. 9), according to
the usual design of this class of erections, consists of two arcades
superimposed on one another--the arches being separated by attached
columns.
In this instance the arches are sixty in number on each story. The
attached columns of the lower arcade are square pilasters with Doric
capitals, and those of the upper range are round and of the Corinthian
order.
[Illustration: FIG. 9. AMPHITHEATRE, ARLES.--_Exterior._]
The design may possibly have originally included an attic story; but
this, if it ever existed, which seems to be doubtful, as not a single
stone of it has been found, has entirely disappeared.
Mérimée points out that the mouldings and enrichments of the remainder
are all carefully finished, which would not likely have been the case
had the building not been carried up to its full height, as the Romans
were in the habit of executing all that class of carved work after
their buildings were completed--the stones for the ornament being only
roughly blocked out at first. We shall meet with a quantity of this
preparatory work in the Amphitheatre of Nimes, where it has been left
unfinished.
The Amphitheatre of Arles, as was to be expected in the capital, is the
largest building of its class in Gaul. It is built after the Roman
manner, with enormous blocks of carefully cut stone set without cement,
and the staircases, passages, &c., are strongly vaulted.
[Illustration: FIG. 10. AMPHITHEATRE, ARLES.--_Interior._]
The plan, as is usual in Roman Amphitheatres, is that of an ellipse, its
longitudinal axis measuring 459 feet, and its transverse axis 341 feet.
The seats, which were arranged in forty-three rows (Fig. 10), provided
accommodation for 26,000 spectators. There are four principal entrances,
at the North, South, East, and West, and eight other smaller doorways.
Originally this amphitheatre was probably built by Caligula or Hadrian.
In the Middle Ages it was transformed into a fortress, and became the
stronghold of some chief, or the citadel of the inhabitants. Four towers
were at that time erected on the top of the building--three of which
still remain.
The amphitheatre is said to have been restored by Charles Martel after
his victories over the Saracens; and some ancient stones have certainly
been used to repair the podium or barrier between the arena and the
auditorium (as may still be seen).
Mérimée discusses the question, how were the spectators in this and
similar buildings protected from the wild beasts which fought with one
another or with gladiators by a podium such as this, not exceeding 8 or
10 feet in height?
Had the podium been high enough to afford safety, it would have
prevented a large part of the audience, especially in the back rows,
from seeing what passed on their side of the arena; an inconvenience
which would certainly never have been endured; and his idea is, that
lions or similar animals which could spring must have been confined with
chains or in cages, and that only animals which do not leap, such as
wild boars, might be freely baited in the open arena.
The “Château des Arenes,” as the amphitheatre was called, was almost
entirely invaded and choked up with the houses of the poorer inhabitants
till 1825, when it was resolved to clear out the building,--a work which
required six years for its accomplishment. The structure is now in
course of “Restoration.”
Besides the amphitheatre Arles also possesses some remains of its Roman
Theatre. These are, however, extremely scanty, consisting chiefly of the
north and south entrance doorways, and two lofty marble pillars with
Corinthian caps (Fig. 11). The latter formed part of the ornamentation
of the scena, and, when considered along with the great wall of the
scena at Orange, may help to give some idea of the generally gorgeous
aspect of that feature of the Roman Theatre when perfect. The plan of
the orchestra, and a few rows of ruined seats, can still be discerned.
[Illustration: FIG. 11. ROMAN THEATRE, ARLES.]
A large number of marble fragments, composed of portions of columns,
capitals, entablatures, &c., have been collected in the precincts of the
theatre, and impress the spectator with a sense both of the great
magnificence of the building when complete, and of the terrible and long
continued series of disasters to which it has owed a demolition so
complete. It should, however, not be omitted to mention that it was
first dismantled by the Bishops, who carried off its marbles to decorate
their churches.
The remains of three parallel walls, with a space between them, under
the level of the proscenium, have given rise to various theories as to
their use. The most likely view seems to be that the apertures were used
for lowering the curtain into before the performances began, as was then
the custom, instead of raising it, as is done in modern times. The
theatre is supposed to have been seated for 16,000 spectators. Several
fine sculptures, now in the museum of Arles or the Louvre, have been dug
out of the ruins of this structure.
Arles possesses the only ancient Obelisk in Gaul. It stands in the
“place,” opposite the entrance to the cathedral, and is set on the backs
of four lions, raised upon a pedestal. It was elevated to this eminence
in 1676, after having lain for long in the bed of the river. The shaft
is of grey granite, 47 feet high, but it is not of an elegant form, and
tapers too rapidly towards the summit. It originally formed the spina of
a Roman circus, where it was found in 1389.
In the front wall of the Hôtel du Nord (in the Place d’hommes) are
inserted the fragments of two Roman granite columns with Corinthian
caps, and part of a pediment (Fig. 12). But unfortunately the traveller,
while enjoying the hospitality of the patron of the “Nord,” and sleeping
with his head perhaps within a few feet of these remains, cannot have
the satisfaction of imagining himself a dweller in a real Roman edifice,
as it is evident that they are not in their original position, but have
been brought from a distance at some remote time and set up here.
There are a few remnants, close to the river, of a building said to be
the Palace of Constantine, including a brick tower called “La tour de la
Trouille.” This is a palace which has had many and varied
occupants--passing from its Roman masters down to the Kings of the
Ostrogoths and Visigoths, the Kings of the Franks, and the Kings of
Arles, the “Holy Roman Emperors” (when they came here to be crowned
Kings of Arles), and the Counts of Provence.
[Illustration: FIG. 12. PLACE D’HOMMES, ARLES.]
In Roman times there was a space to the east of the town used as a
cemetery, and called the Elysii Campi, or Champs Elysées, now the
“Alyscamps.” This necropolis was by tradition supposed to have been
specially consecrated by our Saviour himself, and consequently became a
very favourite place of burial. Princes and dignitaries of Church and
State desired to rest here. Bodies committed to the river (along with
the suitable burial fees) were sure to reach the Alyscamps. It was
celebrated by the poets Dante and Ariosto, and became of world-wide
fame. Chapels and churches were erected in the vicinity, there being no
less than nineteen at one time. But the translation of the body of St
Trophime, A.D. 1152, from the Alyscamps to the cathedral of Arles,
seemed to take away the prestige of the former, and from that time it
gradually decayed.
[Illustration: FIG. 13. THE ALYSCAMPS.]
During its palmy days in the early centuries, this cemetery had become
greatly enriched with splendid monuments and sarcophagi, partly heathen
and partly Christian, but all designed and executed after the Roman or
Grecian manner. At the Renaissance these ancient classic monuments were
specially prized and admired, and many of them were removed. Sarcophagi
were distributed as specimens of early Christian art to Rome, Lyons, and
other towns; the place was gradually deserted and destroyed, and the
monuments were finally turned to common and ignominious uses such as
cattle troughs and bridges over the ditches in the fields. Now the few
remaining tombs have been collected and placed on each side of the road
leading to the chapel of St Honorat (Fig. 13), where they produce from
their position and their classic forms a striking resemblance to the
burial places of the Romans, which lined the wayside at the entrances to
their cities, such as the Appian way at Rome, and the approach to
Pompeii.
[Illustration: FIG. 14. FROM ARLES MUSEUM.]
A large number of the finest sarcophagi have fortunately been preserved
in the Arles museum. Some of them certainly belong to Pagan times, but
most of them are of later date. Many are adorned with bas-reliefs,
representing the hunt of the Stag or Wild Boar, Apollo and the Muses,
and other classic and allegorical subjects.
[Illustration: FIG. 15. TOMB OF CORNELIA, ARLES.]
A museum has been established in the disused Gothic Church of St Anne,
in which some fine examples of classic sculpture are preserved. Besides
the Pagan sarcophagi above referred to it contains some Roman or rather
Greek sculptures of considerable purity and beauty; the Grecian descent
and culture of the country being distinctly observable in these
monuments--just as the same Greek feeling prevails in the paintings and
sculpture of Pompeii. The fragment of a statue of a female dancer (Fig.
14) is particularly graceful in pose and in the execution of the
drapery. The sarcophagus (Fig. 15), with an inscription and two well
carved festoons, is called the Tomb of Cornelia. Fig. 16 shews a finely
carved oak wreath and vase on the monument to the “good Goddess,” and a
beautifully sculptured though mutilated bust of the Empress Livia. Fig.
17 represents a fragment of very spirited carving of foliage said to be
from the frieze of the Arc de Triomph, an amphora and a Corinthian
capital.
[Illustration: FIG. 16. FROM ARLES MUSEUM.]
The Museum also includes a large number of early
[Illustration: FIG. 17. FROM ARLES MUSEUM.]
Christian monuments. That in Fig. 18, representing scenes from the life
of our Saviour, exhibits figures carved in the Roman manner, and wearing
the Roman costume, but degraded in style,--evidently the work of the Low
Empire. Christ occupies the central compartment, and four wide arches
contain figure subjects,--those on the extreme right and left
representing the Magdalene and Pilate, while the two central
compartments contain saints bearing palm branches.
[Illustration: FIG. 18. FROM ARLES MUSEUM.]
The arcade on this sarcophagus is supported on pillars with composite
caps and bases, and shafts ornamented with flutings and twists, similar
in character to the shafts of the early mediæval cloisters. The
archivolt is a veritable architrave with leaf enrichment carried round
the arch, and filled in with a scallop shell. It thus forms a distinct
and instructive example of the manner in which the late Romans dispensed
with the straight architrave, and adopted the arch springing directly
from the caps of the columns, as will be more fully explained further
on. It will then be shewn how this monument illustrates the transition
from the leading features of the Greek trabeated style to those of fully
developed Roman Architecture, and also the mode in which Roman art was
continued into Christian times.
Most of the early Christian sarcophagi are carved with Biblical subjects
symbolical of the new birth, the great Sacrifice, the Resurrection, the
Last Judgment, &c., such as the creation of Adam and Eve, Moses striking
the rock or raising the serpent, Jonah and the whale, Daniel and the
lions, the parables and miracles of our Lord, &c. These form as
interesting a series of early Christian sculptures, combined with late
Roman features, as is anywhere to be found.
On the east side of the town are the remains of some parts of the Roman
walls, built in their usual massive manner. These consist of portions of
the gate of the town, by which the Aurelian way entered, flanked by
ruined round towers.
[Illustration: FIG. 19.]
NIMES (Nemausus). Situated at no great distance from Arles, and at the
base of the hills which bound the plain of the Rhone, Nimes formed the
capital of the Volces Arecomiques (or inhabitants of the flat country).
In B.C. 121 it submitted voluntarily to Rome, and a few years B.C.
Augustus planted a colony there. Being enriched with baths, &c., by
Agrippa, Nimes soon became an important town surrounded with walls and
towers, and provided with all the usual public buildings. It had reached
the height of prosperity when it was ravaged by the Vandals in 407. In
472 it fell under the power of the Visigoths, who established themselves
in the town, and made the amphitheatre their fortress. After suffering
the usual course of sieges and destruction by the Saracens and Franks,
Nimes early declared itself a Republic. In 1185 it came under the
suzerainty of the Count of Toulouse, in which condition it continued to
flourish till it finally passed to France under Louis VIII., along with
the other domains of the Count of Toulouse after the Albigensian wars.
[Illustration: FIG. 20. AMPHITHEATRE, NIMES.]
Although Nimes was a comparatively obscure town in the days of the
Empire, the remains of its Roman monuments are the finest in Southern
Gaul. The Amphitheatre (Fig. 19) is not quite so large as that at Arles,
nor is the interior (Fig. 20) so well preserved, but the exterior is
more complete. It measures 437 feet by 332 feet, with thirty-two rows
of seats which contained about 20,000 spectators. The amphitheatre is
now well seen, owing to the removal of the paltry buildings which had
invaded it both within and without. Like all such Roman works it is
constructed with the most massive materials, built without cement, and
all bound together with solid stone lintels and arches. Fig. 21, a view
in the corridor on the first floor, gives some idea of the colossal
strength of the masonry. But these great stone lintels, massive as they
are, indicate a vicious form of construction, many of them being cracked
and shattered by the weight of the arches resting upon them. The
exterior is of the usual design of such edifices having two arcades
superimposed one on the other, with upright pilasters, or engaged
columns, between the arcades supporting horizontal entablatures. Each
arcade has sixty arches. The pilasters of the ground tier are square,
and have no base, while the engaged columns of the upper tier are round
and of the Doric order; above the latter is the attic, partly
demolished, but still containing 120 bold consoles with holes to receive
the masts which supported the velarium or awning.
There are four principal entrances at the four cardinal points; that of
the North ornamented with a cornice resting on two bulls’ fore quarters.
Similar ornamental bulls were introduced in the Temple which stood where
the Cathedral is now built, and on the fine gate of Augustus of this
city. Some therefore think it a kind of coat of arms given by the
Emperors to the town. Others imagine that these features were adopted in
order to flatter the Emperor Augustus, some bulls’ heads having been
sculptured on the house in which he was born. A few sculptures are still
visible on the amphitheatre, including two gladiators, and the Roman
wolf.
A very large part of the ornament is left in block, only the western
division being finished, the carving of the remainder never having been
completed. The podium surrounding the arena is low, as at Arles, thus
confirming Mérimée’s views as to the provisions which required to be
adopted for the safety of the audience.
[Illustration: FIG. 21]
The interior has been greatly restored, so as to make it available for a
large modern audience, and the amphitheatre is now used, amongst other
exhibitions, for the annual branding of the young bulls of the Camargue,
which, from the lively description of it given by Alexandre Dumas, seems
to be a stirring spectacle, not unworthy of this classic arena.
In ancient times the lowest or first series of seats was set apart for
the senators; the second series for the knights; the third for
plebeians; and the top rows for the slaves. The last being the most
quarrelsome it was considered desirable to endeavour to prevent
squabbling by marking off each person’s seat. This was effected by means
of lines cut in the stone, some of which are still visible _in situ_.
Some years ago there existed in the first precincts divisions similar to
those of boxes in modern theatres.
The celebrated Maison Carrée at Nimes (Fig. 22) is probably the purest
piece of Roman work to be found north of the Alps, and cannot fail
strongly to impress the beholder, especially if he here sees for the
first time a genuine Roman temple. The design doubtless owes much of its
beauty and purity to the Grecian spirit of the locality. The building is
small, being only about 80 feet by 40 feet. The portico, with its ten
Corinthian columns, and enriched pediment, is very fine; but the effect
of the flank view, in which the columns attached to the cella are
visible, is not so satisfactory. The temple is surrounded by thirty
columns in all, including those of the portico, which stand free, and
the engaged columns of the flanks and rear. This is what is called the
_pseudo-peripteral_ plan--the true peripteral temple having the columns
detached so as to form an ambulatory all round the cella. The former is
the arrangement usual in Roman temples, which, according to Fergusson,
never follow the genuine peripteral type. It is,
[Illustration: FIG. 22. MAISON CARREE, NIMES.]
however, worthy of note, that the PLAN of this building with its deep
porch is rather Italo-Etruscan than Greek, and thus adheres to the
traditional type observed by the Romans.
The cornice is perhaps rather over-enriched and is indicative of a late
date, when classic art was in decadence; but the frieze is beautifully
designed, and the style as a whole is remarkably pure and elegant.
Various ingenious attempts have been made to decipher the letters of the
bronze inscription (which were originally fixed on the frieze of the
portico), by means of the holes formed by the bolts which attached them
to the stone work. The reading which seems most probable from its
agreeing with the style of the building, indicates that it was dedicated
to two nobles distinguished with the title of “princes of youth.” It is
as follows:--
M. CAESARI AUGUSTI F. COS. L. CAESARI
AUGUSTI F. COS. DESIGNATO PRINCIPIBUS
JUVENTUTIS.
This inscription necessarily places the Temple in the age of the
Antonines, since the only princes known to whom the above names and
title of Principes Juventutis will apply, after the sons of Agrippa,
were Marcus Aurelius, and Lucius Verus, adopted sons of Antoninus Pius.