DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.24719#0130
TEMPLES IN GAUL NARBONNAISE.
103
In another part of the field, beneath the former, we read: —-
*■£» liege Karla
Bysarda
Ardradm
Leodda
JEldradus
Adalsinda
This custom of inscribing names upon celebrated monuments is one of great antiquity,
and has been especially preserved amongst Christians; in the catacombs of Home are many
insci’iptions traced by the hands of the Grqfitti, written by visitors to the places sanctified by
the sepulture of martyrs.
The Abbe Barges regards these inscriptions as belonging to the period comprised between
the 7tli and 10th centuries, which makes them much older than the construction of the church
of St. Peter.1 2
THE TEMPLE OP AUGUSTUS AT VIENNE, CONVERTED INTO A CHURCH
UNDER THE TITLE OE NOTRE-DAME-DE-VIE.
The town of Vienne, in Dauphiny, the capital of the Allobroges, became in the first
period of the Empire one of the most beautiful towns of the Lyonnaise.
The ruins that still remain are evidences of the beauty of its public buildings. Situated
upon the scarped slopes of a mountain which looks down upon the course of the Rhone, they
Avere sustained by solid foundations, which filled up the inequalities of the soil from the level
of the river Gere up to the summit of the rock of the citadel. The temple of Mars towered
above all, so that the general cotip d’ceil was extremely Imposing.
Some of the foundations situated above the citadel are supposed to have been those of the
terraces of the palace belonging to those emperors who for a time resided here. Vitellius lived
here and was warned by a presage of his approaching fate. Valentinian II. was strangled here
A.D. 392, by Arbogastus, a Gaulish officer. The palace was burnt in the time of St. Mammertius,
and in the 17th century was converted into a Capuchin convent.
In the lower part of the town were other public edifices, such as the Basilica, the Prsetorium,
and the Theatre.
The temple of Augustus, which still remains entire, doubtless formed part of the Eorum,
like the temple of the Princes of Youth, now the Maison carree at Nimes.
In the last century the original destination of this edifice was unknown, so little were
people versed in the history of ancient buildings. Schneyder, a Erench architect, not only
proved that it was a temple, hut after long and patient investigation, he was enabled to restore
and decipher the inscription on the faqade, from the holes by means of which the bronze letters
had been fastened. The following inscription was the result of his examination: —
CON • SEN • DIVO • AVGVSTO • OPTIMO • MAXIMO •
ET DIVAE AVGVSTAE
This shows that this temple, like that of Ancyra, was dedicated to the deified
Augustus. It is curious to find at the extremities of the then civilized world two edifices
raised to the same emperor, which have both become Christian churches. The name of Rome,
which was always associated with that of Augustus in the temples erected during the file
of the emperor, not being found upon that of Vienne, it may he concluded that it was dedicated
in the reign of Tiberius. We know that at no epoch of history did the adulation of towns
1 See Memoire swr VAutel de VEglise de Minerve, by Edmond Le Blant. 8vo. Paris, 1860.
2 Monuments romains de Vienne. By Vietti. In folio.
103
In another part of the field, beneath the former, we read: —-
*■£» liege Karla
Bysarda
Ardradm
Leodda
JEldradus
Adalsinda
This custom of inscribing names upon celebrated monuments is one of great antiquity,
and has been especially preserved amongst Christians; in the catacombs of Home are many
insci’iptions traced by the hands of the Grqfitti, written by visitors to the places sanctified by
the sepulture of martyrs.
The Abbe Barges regards these inscriptions as belonging to the period comprised between
the 7tli and 10th centuries, which makes them much older than the construction of the church
of St. Peter.1 2
THE TEMPLE OP AUGUSTUS AT VIENNE, CONVERTED INTO A CHURCH
UNDER THE TITLE OE NOTRE-DAME-DE-VIE.
The town of Vienne, in Dauphiny, the capital of the Allobroges, became in the first
period of the Empire one of the most beautiful towns of the Lyonnaise.
The ruins that still remain are evidences of the beauty of its public buildings. Situated
upon the scarped slopes of a mountain which looks down upon the course of the Rhone, they
Avere sustained by solid foundations, which filled up the inequalities of the soil from the level
of the river Gere up to the summit of the rock of the citadel. The temple of Mars towered
above all, so that the general cotip d’ceil was extremely Imposing.
Some of the foundations situated above the citadel are supposed to have been those of the
terraces of the palace belonging to those emperors who for a time resided here. Vitellius lived
here and was warned by a presage of his approaching fate. Valentinian II. was strangled here
A.D. 392, by Arbogastus, a Gaulish officer. The palace was burnt in the time of St. Mammertius,
and in the 17th century was converted into a Capuchin convent.
In the lower part of the town were other public edifices, such as the Basilica, the Prsetorium,
and the Theatre.
The temple of Augustus, which still remains entire, doubtless formed part of the Eorum,
like the temple of the Princes of Youth, now the Maison carree at Nimes.
In the last century the original destination of this edifice was unknown, so little were
people versed in the history of ancient buildings. Schneyder, a Erench architect, not only
proved that it was a temple, hut after long and patient investigation, he was enabled to restore
and decipher the inscription on the faqade, from the holes by means of which the bronze letters
had been fastened. The following inscription was the result of his examination: —
CON • SEN • DIVO • AVGVSTO • OPTIMO • MAXIMO •
ET DIVAE AVGVSTAE
This shows that this temple, like that of Ancyra, was dedicated to the deified
Augustus. It is curious to find at the extremities of the then civilized world two edifices
raised to the same emperor, which have both become Christian churches. The name of Rome,
which was always associated with that of Augustus in the temples erected during the file
of the emperor, not being found upon that of Vienne, it may he concluded that it was dedicated
in the reign of Tiberius. We know that at no epoch of history did the adulation of towns
1 See Memoire swr VAutel de VEglise de Minerve, by Edmond Le Blant. 8vo. Paris, 1860.
2 Monuments romains de Vienne. By Vietti. In folio.