Vini, Vidi, Vici

I just got back from a river tour of Burgundy and Provence in France. Aside from drinking a good deal of the local wine, and eating too much good food, I was struck most by the pervasive influence of the Romans. We started in Lyon, where Roman remains include what’s left of a theatre. France’s third city, Lyon sits at the confluence of the Rhone and Saone Rivers (the Soane is a tributary).

            The Soane took us to Burgundy and Beaujolais. The highlight was Beaune, and a visit to its famous hospital, built in the 15^th century for the poor and needy. Its patron was Nicolas Rolin, chancellor of the Dutchy of Burgundy, who no doubt hoped its foundation would put him in good with the Lord. We should recognize his impulse to wash away his sins with cash. In our day, we might mention the names Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Ford in this regard.

            But it was along the Rhone that we found the most pervasive Roman influence. Arles, perhaps best known for its association with Vincent Van Gogh, was founded by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C.. It was no accident. The Rhone leads to the Mediterranean, and was a logical highway to the interior for the expansion-minded Romans. A highlight is the Amphitheatre, built around 90 A.D., which has been largely restored, and remains a venue for bull fights and other events (they don’t kill the bull in France). It’s a smaller version of Rome’s Colosseum, seating about 20,000.

            In Orange, Roman remains include a triumphal arch with some if its reliefs intact, and a typical Roman theatre, one of many in the Roman world still used for theatrical and musical events, in this case an annual opera festival. Indeed, on the day of our visit, stage hands were working to set up an event. It was typical in major Roman settlements to have a theatre, arena and forum, just as existed in Rome itself. “Bread and circuses” were thought to keep the locals from being too restive under Roman rule.

            But the highlight of the trip was the famous Pont du Gard, a bridge over the Gardon River. part of the aqueduct that carried water for some 30 miles from a spring to the Roman settlement of Nemausus, modern day Nimes. Built in the 1^st Century, it’s a monument to Roman engineering skills. Like most of the Roman structures in the area, it was constructed of the local limestone. Amazingly, to our eyes, the stones were fitted so carefully that no mortar was necessary.

            Of course, we also saw more than our share of medieval landmarks, including the papal palace at Avignon, and several cathedrals and churches. A common theme was the pillaging and destruction of religious buildings during the 1789 French Revolution. The papal palace was largely stripped of its iconography during those years. This is the same kind of impulse that caused the Taliban to destroy the Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001, and the new Protestants to repurpose Roman Catholic churches in Northern Europe during the Reformation by stripping them of what were, in many cases, great works of art.

               I should also add that the landscape, with its vineyards, hills and forests, was an inspiration to not only Van Gogh, but Gauguin, Cezanne, Picasso and many others. As it happened, it was the harvest season. There is no mechanization; the grapes for the great wines of France are – by law – hand-picked. We saw some of this, and tasted the results. Just as the Romans did in their five centuries of rule.

Copyright 2023, Patrick F, Cannon