Nemausus & Arelate, The Roman Sister-Cities of Provence
Competing sisters over their Roman heritage and cultural attractiveness! Actually, these two settlements existed before the arrival of the first Roman legions during the 2nd century BCE. Their names are probably of Celtic origin. Arelate means “in front of the marsh”, the extensive marshlands of Camargue in the Rhone River delta. It is Western Europe’s largest delta and France‘s largest wetland. Nemausus was named after Nemos, the name of a local Celtic god. The Romans quickly and peacefully annexed the whole of what is now southeastern France; they named their new province Gallia Narbonensis or Narbonese Gaul. It encompassed what is now Occitania and Provence. Today, Nemausus/Nimes belongs to the Languedoc/Occitanie region and Arelate/Arles is in Provence-Alpes-C รด te d’Azure. Nemausus and Arelate owe their fortune and success to water. A...