Under General Julius Caesar, the lands of Gaul were brutally conquered. Roman invaders quickly expanded the settlement into a goods trading centre. With the inner harbour, the imposing forum, the monumental amphitheater and the stone circus.
Convenient location: Road routes to Italy and Spain
During the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar in the 1st century BC, numerous settlements benefited from the enthusiasm for construction of the new Roman rulers.
In Arles in southern France, many Roman monuments bear witness to the prosperity achieved. The amphitheater, 21 meters high and 450 meters long with 60 colonnades, is a replica of the Colosseum in Rome. The city also has a forum, a fence and an ancient theatre.
Many buildings are being built at the beginning of the Roman Empire. For this reason, Arles is also called the “little Rome of the Gauls”. How can this success be explained? The city is strategically located on the Rôhne and also at the crossroads of the highways connecting Italy and Spain. This position gives it a great advantage in the following centuries.
Roman era – experts answer
Archaeologists and historians follow countless trails to reconstruct the fate of Arles and the lives of its inhabitants during Roman times. Why did Arles become so important to the Roman Empire? How does the city acquire this incredible wealth? And why did Arles, like the rest of Gaul, finally perish?
The documentary series explores three French cities that still harbor the remains of massive Roman structures. Evidence of Roman civilization, engineering and colonial history.
Source: ZDF
I am Timothy Glover, a professional journalist and content creator. I specialize in writing and editing for news websites, specifically covering politics. I have been working as an author at News Unrolled for the past five years and have built up a reputation for producing quality content that is both informative and engaging.
