Arles and St. Remy

---

Today I tagged along with the archeology class to the ruins of the Roman town of Glanum outside of modern-day St. Remy and to Arles, a city west of Aix that has major urban ruins, including an amphitheater, theater and circus.

We arrived in St. Remy around 9h30, and looked at the cenotaph and city arch a few hundred feet from the actual ruins of the town of Glanum, while we waited for the place to open. The tower is a cenotaph and not a mausoleum because no one is actually buried there. It commemorates the man that did deeds in service of Rome, thereby allowing the people of Glanum to gain Roman citizenship. The arch is like triumphal arches in other Roman areas, but this one marked the edge of the town and wasn’t really commemorating any victory.

Once Glanum opened we walked up to an overlook from which we could see the whole complex of ruins laid out before us. I have some awesome panoramas of this, but I don’t think they will work on the site. We explored the different religious and public areas, including the spring that was the focus of pre-Roman nature worship and the ruins of a Roman bath.

I immediately noticed the semi-circular grassy area that was the remains of the theatre. Kind of disappointing and not too informative, but it showed how the romans were using the greek method of building into natural depressions. This theatre was close to the forum and was probably also used for political functions, according to Prof. Guillard.

Our next stop was a bit more substantial. Arles’s amphitheater rises out of the center of town and is very large and well-preserved. Lookout towers were added to the four sides in the medieval period when the population lived inside for protection. I climbed up into one tower and could see quite far. Along the sides of the amphitheater I noticed carvings in the limestone, and they were in Latin. I couldn’t read all of it, but I did take pictures. It seems to be some kind of official script, mentioning the emperor.

We walked over to the theater and it was incredible, the first really well preserved theater I have found. The remains of the scaena was amazing, the marble was beautiful and there were lots of intriguing pieces of architectural elements lying around. They are repairing the seating area of the theater for modern use. That’s all well and good, but it also prevents visitors from seeing the authentic arrangement and the state of the rock. It’s not really Roman through and through now. It just bothers me a bit.

Before heading back to the bus we made a quick detour to see the outside of St. Triomphe, the Romanesque church in Arles. I've been studying Romanesque in class, so this was really cool to visit and recognize elements from lecture. There are lots of little details to notice, like the people being led to hell, and the side relief where there's a devil with a woman's head strategically placed between his legs. Quite interesting! I just got to peak in quickly. Then I had to run and catch up with the group.

We spent an hour at the archeology museum at the outskirts of town and saw some pretty amazing mosaics and sarcophagi from the Roman and Christian periods. Outside were the somewhat pathetic remains of the circus, especially compared to the theater and amphitheater. Circuses just can’t get no respect- always being used for quarries.
I wish I had had more time to explore the amphitheater on my own, but the design and implementation seemed a duplicate of Nimes and it was interesting that lookout towers were added later, something that I hadn’t seen up until then.

---

Photos

Mausoleum and Arch of Glanum
Kind of random, intact ruins on the edge of the ancient town of Glanum

View of Glanum
The theater of Glanum is in the upper right part of the picture, partially obscured by trees, but recognizable by the bowl-shape of the earth. See it?

Top of Arles's Amphitheater
Seen from the medieval tower

Theater of Arles
From behind the remains of the scaena, you can see the seats under "restoration"

Facade of St Triomphe
The intricate facade of the Romanesque church- very beautiful and full of surprises