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Touring France to see Roman ruins
#1
Elaine Sciolino of the New York Times went on tour to Southern France to see Roman ruins. The article also has a good slideshow and map detailing where to see the sites.

I haven’t seen the newbot working for a while and thought this was an interesting article so decided to post it.

And in case you are wondering: yes, she reports that the bust taken from the Rhone a couple of years ago is Julius Caesar. No contrary opinions, but then again this is kind of a travel guide. She quotes the director of Musee Departemental de l’Arles Antique:

Quote: “Here he is — Caesar,” Mr. Sintès said. “The wrinkles on his neck match those on Roman coins. There’s the Adam’s apple, just like Caesar’s. He’s balding, just as Caesar was balding. He’s human, no?”

When I looked into Caesar’s eyes, he stared back at me, his face a mix of pride and power tinged with weariness, even melancholy.
David J. Cord
www.davidcord.com
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#2
Hi ! I'm happily surprised to see my native region in the NY Times. However It concentrates on the biggest monuments of the former "provincia".

In the Same region, don't miss the town of Vaison-la-romaine with some very important finds in their museum. The old roman Bridge is still in use in the town center. At the beginning of the nineties, some terrible storms flooded the Ouvéze river into a murderous wave which also destroyed two modern bridges made of steel and concrete (but with a central pillar instead of a central arch like it). The old roman stone bridge particularly well resisted to this flood more terrible than all what he had passed through because the origin for such a flood was some timbers blocking some recently fitted under road concrete pipes and breaking the improvised "dam" suddenly.

Close to Vaison, you can stop in Saint-Maurice where a vineyard produce wine according to roman process and I think there's an old olive mill also.

On the other side of the Rhone, you can go to Bourg-Saint-Andeol where a mithraeum survived to the bombing of the town and if you go on to the west through the hills, you arrive at Alba-la-romaine where a huge theater can be seen.

Near Valence on the opposite side of the Rhône there's a town called Soyons with a small but very rich museum with gallo-roman altars and a complete child grave plus slingballs and a lot of other things (like 2 mammoths remains as an example) and the tower on the cliff other the museum is the remain of an old gaulish oppidum quite important.

More north and before Lyon don't miss Saint-Romain-en-Gal museum, very interesting. They discovered there a whole gallo-roman merchant town on the side of the Rhône river and some beautiful mosaics but also all things you can find in a town from amphoras to plumbery. Just on the other side don't forget the famous antic theater of Vienne where the famous jazz festival takes place.

Fore a few more roman architecture in France pictures :
http://cliophoto.clionautes.org/picture ... tegory/248

If you plan a trip, just ask some help :wink:

Bye !
Greg Reynaud (the ferret)
[Image: 955d308995.jpg] Britto-roman milites, 500 AD
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