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-Côte d’Azure.  

Nemausus and Arelate owe their fortune and success to water.  Arelate was a busy port on the Rhone River; it traded with the Greek city of Massalia (Marseille) and with the Celtic tribes up north.  Nemos or Nemausus was the patron god of a sacred and healing spring near a Celtic settlement up on the hill, and oppidum.  It has been built by the local Celts, the Volques Arecomiques.  

Arelate was under Roman control as early as 123 BCE.  During his Gaul campaign, the Roman general Julius Caesar sent his ships to Arelate for repair.  During the Roman civil war, the city made the wise choice of backing Caesar against his rival Pompey.  A grateful Caesar generously rewarded Arelate.  It was the beginning of a bountiful period for the city which underwent sizeable urbanization earthworks.  Arelate was radically changed into a full-fledge Roman city. 

The Nemausus spring attracted the spa loving Romans a bit later, around 118 BCE.  The local Volques were also eager to please their new masters.  Legend has it that many Volques enlisted in Caesar’s legions to defeat their Gaul brethren, the Arvernes from central France.  It took eight years for Caesar to subdue the rest of Gaul.  The Volques’ opportunism was boundless and blatant during the political rise of Octavius Augustus, Caesar’s adoptive son.  Volque volunteers played an active role in Octavius’s resounding victory over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at Actium in Greece (31 BCE).  After his victory, Octavius was granted the name of Augustus and became Rome’s greatest emperor.  The Volque soldiers and Roman veterans of the Egyptian campaign were lavishly rewarded.  Many settled in Nemausus.  Subsequently, the city was allowed to mint coins showing the famous crocodile representing Egypt chained to a palm tree symbol for victory.  

Like Arelate, Gallic Nemausus was transformed into a Roman city, a colony where some 50 000 people lived.  Magnificent public buildings were erected, many still visible today.  The flow of the original spring was too irregular to supply the city and a 50 km long aqueduct was built; the Pont du Gard is the best-preserved aqueduct bridge of this outstanding undertaking.  It is also the tallest of all remaining Roman aqueduct bridges  Conversely, the Augusteum, a sanctuary dedicated to the imperial cult is sadly no longer visible in the Gardens of la Fontaine. 

So, what happened to Arelate and Nemausus between the fall of the Roman empire (around 476 AD) and today? At the twilight of the Roman Empire, the fate of the two cities diverged: Nemausus had already been in decline, whereas, commercially-active Arelate had maintained its importance.  With some 15 000 inhabitants, it became the second largest city of the province after Marseille.  More vulnerable to political turmoil and insecurity, Nemausus had been eclipsed by Arelate.   Thanks to its economic dynamism and strong Christian community, Arelate cruised through the end-of-era chaos.  In the fourth century, Emperor Constantine even called a council in the city.  It survived in leaps and bounds until its Medieval renaissance.

It is during this period that the two cities lost their “Latin” names and were renamed Nimes and Arles.  The early Medieval period was harsh on Nimes, the remaining population had to take refuge into the amphitheater which became a fortress.  As a result, the amphitheater was not gutted for its stones like the Rome Coliseum, a silver lining of sorts.  The Augustus wall was destroyed and its stone were quarried to build a smaller surrounding wall.  The large and magnificent Augusteum was wrecked, one stone at a time.

                                                                  Nimes' amphitheater

In Arles, a church building frenzy took hold of the population, evidently facilitated by the presence of so many useless Roman buildings.  Sarcophagi became church altars and Roman columns sustained gothic vaults.  However, soon to come political and religious mayhems will badly damage the medieval churches of Nimes and Arles; let’s call it the revenge of the Roman stones!  During the sixteen century religious wars between Catholic and Protestants, the majority of the churches of Nimes were burnt to the ground.  During the Revolution, violence became very extreme in Arles, a state of civil war, and zealots were encouraged to vandalize dozens of churches.  

Later, Nimes regained its economic dynamism and became a busy textile manufacturing center, even leading to the denim legend!  Meanwhile, Arles lost economic steam and visibility.  All until a would-be-famous-mentally-instable painter chopped off his ear (his angry buddy, Gauguin might have done it; the jury is still out on that one!).  Now, Arles is forever associated with the insane but magnificent Van Gogh.  The city had found its vocation, and it started a very successful cultural venture.  Its Roman heritage became the backbone of this transformation; since 1981, the city has been listed as a UNESCO Heritage Site.  Roman ruins were excavated and restored, museums were built, and the wretched empty churches now house a world-famous photograph exhibit.  The going-against-nature co-operation between a forward-looking communist mayor and a Swiss heiress brought the Guggenheim architect, Frank Gehry to town.  His metal tower hosts the visionary Luma Art Foundation.

Nimes didn’t play its cards so wisely.  In spite of its magnificent Roman heritage, the city is still chasing UNESCO patronage.  All it not so bad.  Nimes is cashing on its Roman amphitheater which summer shows have attracted some 200 000 fans.  It seems that modern performances are economically more profitable than gladiators’ fights to the death.

My conclusion: Arles 1-0 Nimes.