THE ROMAN CONQUEST
It is a period of relative peace before the Roman conquest and the consequent birth of Narbonne:
The Volques Tectosagi [...] lived in peace until the conquest of Narbonne and the banks of the Aude by the Romans, more than a century before the birth of Christ (1).
The occupation of the Romans in 118BC, however, is not greeted by the Celts as a local act of supremacy against them, unlike the policy of the Germans, who, being in search of a better place to live were to be a threat to the survival of the Celtic population. The Roman policy is not in fact targeted to enslave, or to expel or annihilate the local population.
Narbo Martius, today's Narbonne, gives its name to the narbonensis Province, the area which includes the south of France, Spain and Italy all along the Mediterranean coast, and part of western Switzerland. Manned by the tenth legion, the province is home to the Celtic people peacefully living there for centuries, thanks to their excellent business relations with the Romans - they continue to use the Mediterranean for trade. Also established is the east-west axis that connects Toulouse (so named by the Romans) to Narbo Martius: so that the Roman road becomes the main artery of the region.
Around the year 100 BC an ancient fortified settlement is renamed Julia Carcaso, then Carcasum: later it become Carcassonne. There is a road to the south which leads to Limoux ( Lemosium ), and then it continues to Alet ( Electum , already home to some hot springs) and further south along the river to get to the Blanque at Rennes-les-Bains - perhaps the most ancient spa town of Gaul, which is characterized by three sources of water and some hot water veins of sulfur and iron (2), the Romans called this place Aquae calidae (3).
In 1838 the author H. Fons-Lamothe, reports in his book the discovery of a statue of the emperor Antoninus Pius (86-161 AD) at the east gate of Rennes-le-Château, the ancient Castrum Valens (source name Roman), along with several plates and remains of Roman buildings (4). Even with some reservations - the statue was kept in the home of the author and now today we have lost track of it - but other scholars testify to such discoveries later.
In 1867 Buzairies claimed that the former Rennes did not occupy only the top of the hill, but also extended into the valleys: In a valley nearby were found the remains of buildings, stone walls, Roman amphorae and plaques which testify to the existence of a small group of houses
(5).
In 1954 Maurice Certain reports the discovery of some Roman bronzes in Rennes-le-Chateau (6), Jean Fourie mentions the remains of an ancient rampart and several foundations including the pottery that was recovered from the archaeological site of La provenitente Graufesenque , near Millau (7).
Never having been the focus of archeological inspection and focus, the whole area continues to offer even the ameteurs a large number of finds, mainly composed of fragments of pottery and ancient coins. Several scholars have emphasized the potential archaeological wealth of the area (8), the most serious and documented work published to date on the archaeology of the Gallo-Roman village of Rennes-le-Château is that published by Christian Raynaud (9).
Raynaud says:
We do not know the organization and habitat of the Gallo-Romans at Rennes-le-Château. Without doubt, it was limited to a few watchtowers surrounded by small huts at strategic points on the hill: the western spur [now home to the gardens of Sauniere] and the east entrance, where there were in fact found some tiles, fragments of ..... pottery and coins of the High Empire.[...] The following constructions have done away with all traces of the Gallo-Roman constructions (10).
Notes
1.Joseph-Lasserre, Theodore Recherches sur la ville d'Alet Historiques et son ancien Diocese , 1877 (hours in the edition Paris: Le Livre h'histoire-Lorissa, 2003), p.6
2.Jean Fourie, L'Histoire de Rennes-le-Château à antérieur 1789 , Carcassonne: Editions Jean Bardou, 1984, p.29.
3 And Claude Rivière 3.Jacques Boumendil, Histoire de Rennes-les-Bains , Belisane, 2006, p.57.
4 H. Fons-Lamothe, Notices historique sur la ville de Limoux , 1838 (hour edition Nimes C. Lacour Editeur, 1994) cited above. in Jean Fourie, L'Histoire de Rennes-le-Château à antérieur 1789 , Carcassonne: Editions Jean Bardou, 1984, pp.20-21.
5.Louis Buzairies Alban, Notice historique sur les châteaux de l'arrondissement de
Limoux , 1867 (hour edition Nimes C. Lacour Editeur, 1999), pp.9-10
6.Maurice, Bronzes romains trouvés in Rennes-le-Château , in the Bulletin de la Société d'études scientifiques de l'Aude , Volume LV, 1954
7.Jean Fourie, L'Histoire de Rennes-le-Château à antérieur 1789 , Carcassonne: Editions Jean Bardou, 1984, p.20
8.Jean Fourie, L'Histoire de Rennes-le-Château à antérieur 1789 , Carcassonne: Editions Jean Bardou, 1984, p.21
9. "Archéologiques Notes Raynaud, Christian" in Jean Fourie, L'Histoire de Rennes-le-Château à antérieur 1789 , Carcassonne: Editions Jean Bardou, 1984, pp.25-36
10. Raynaud, Christian cited. in Jean Fourie, L'Histoire de Rennes-le-Château à antérieur 1789 , Carcassonne: Editions Jean Bardou, 1984, p.29
My thanks to Mariano Tomatis for permission to translate: http://www.renneslechateau.it/index.php?sezione=guida&id=4
The Volques Tectosagi [...] lived in peace until the conquest of Narbonne and the banks of the Aude by the Romans, more than a century before the birth of Christ (1).
The occupation of the Romans in 118BC, however, is not greeted by the Celts as a local act of supremacy against them, unlike the policy of the Germans, who, being in search of a better place to live were to be a threat to the survival of the Celtic population. The Roman policy is not in fact targeted to enslave, or to expel or annihilate the local population.
Narbo Martius, today's Narbonne, gives its name to the narbonensis Province, the area which includes the south of France, Spain and Italy all along the Mediterranean coast, and part of western Switzerland. Manned by the tenth legion, the province is home to the Celtic people peacefully living there for centuries, thanks to their excellent business relations with the Romans - they continue to use the Mediterranean for trade. Also established is the east-west axis that connects Toulouse (so named by the Romans) to Narbo Martius: so that the Roman road becomes the main artery of the region.
Around the year 100 BC an ancient fortified settlement is renamed Julia Carcaso, then Carcasum: later it become Carcassonne. There is a road to the south which leads to Limoux ( Lemosium ), and then it continues to Alet ( Electum , already home to some hot springs) and further south along the river to get to the Blanque at Rennes-les-Bains - perhaps the most ancient spa town of Gaul, which is characterized by three sources of water and some hot water veins of sulfur and iron (2), the Romans called this place Aquae calidae (3).
In 1838 the author H. Fons-Lamothe, reports in his book the discovery of a statue of the emperor Antoninus Pius (86-161 AD) at the east gate of Rennes-le-Château, the ancient Castrum Valens (source name Roman), along with several plates and remains of Roman buildings (4). Even with some reservations - the statue was kept in the home of the author and now today we have lost track of it - but other scholars testify to such discoveries later.
In 1867 Buzairies claimed that the former Rennes did not occupy only the top of the hill, but also extended into the valleys: In a valley nearby were found the remains of buildings, stone walls, Roman amphorae and plaques which testify to the existence of a small group of houses
(5).
In 1954 Maurice Certain reports the discovery of some Roman bronzes in Rennes-le-Chateau (6), Jean Fourie mentions the remains of an ancient rampart and several foundations including the pottery that was recovered from the archaeological site of La provenitente Graufesenque , near Millau (7).
Never having been the focus of archeological inspection and focus, the whole area continues to offer even the ameteurs a large number of finds, mainly composed of fragments of pottery and ancient coins. Several scholars have emphasized the potential archaeological wealth of the area (8), the most serious and documented work published to date on the archaeology of the Gallo-Roman village of Rennes-le-Château is that published by Christian Raynaud (9).
Raynaud says:
We do not know the organization and habitat of the Gallo-Romans at Rennes-le-Château. Without doubt, it was limited to a few watchtowers surrounded by small huts at strategic points on the hill: the western spur [now home to the gardens of Sauniere] and the east entrance, where there were in fact found some tiles, fragments of ..... pottery and coins of the High Empire.[...] The following constructions have done away with all traces of the Gallo-Roman constructions (10).
Notes
1.Joseph-Lasserre, Theodore Recherches sur la ville d'Alet Historiques et son ancien Diocese , 1877 (hours in the edition Paris: Le Livre h'histoire-Lorissa, 2003), p.6
2.Jean Fourie, L'Histoire de Rennes-le-Château à antérieur 1789 , Carcassonne: Editions Jean Bardou, 1984, p.29.
3 And Claude Rivière 3.Jacques Boumendil, Histoire de Rennes-les-Bains , Belisane, 2006, p.57.
4 H. Fons-Lamothe, Notices historique sur la ville de Limoux , 1838 (hour edition Nimes C. Lacour Editeur, 1994) cited above. in Jean Fourie, L'Histoire de Rennes-le-Château à antérieur 1789 , Carcassonne: Editions Jean Bardou, 1984, pp.20-21.
5.Louis Buzairies Alban, Notice historique sur les châteaux de l'arrondissement de
Limoux , 1867 (hour edition Nimes C. Lacour Editeur, 1999), pp.9-10
6.Maurice, Bronzes romains trouvés in Rennes-le-Château , in the Bulletin de la Société d'études scientifiques de l'Aude , Volume LV, 1954
7.Jean Fourie, L'Histoire de Rennes-le-Château à antérieur 1789 , Carcassonne: Editions Jean Bardou, 1984, p.20
8.Jean Fourie, L'Histoire de Rennes-le-Château à antérieur 1789 , Carcassonne: Editions Jean Bardou, 1984, p.21
9. "Archéologiques Notes Raynaud, Christian" in Jean Fourie, L'Histoire de Rennes-le-Château à antérieur 1789 , Carcassonne: Editions Jean Bardou, 1984, pp.25-36
10. Raynaud, Christian cited. in Jean Fourie, L'Histoire de Rennes-le-Château à antérieur 1789 , Carcassonne: Editions Jean Bardou, 1984, p.29
My thanks to Mariano Tomatis for permission to translate: http://www.renneslechateau.it/index.php?sezione=guida&id=4