Virtual visit : Men - Vienne inTransalpine Gaul - Vienne, the Allobroge capital


VIENNE IN TRANSALPINE GAUL (121 - 27 BC)
THE ROMANISATION OF THE ALLOBROGES
VIENNE, THE ALLOBROGE CAPITAL

silver coin, Julius Caesar denarius, about 49 BC

coin, Octavius and deified Julius Caesar

VIENNE, THE ALLOBROGE CAPITAL

We know very little about the actual site of Vienne during this turbulent period : a public building was constructed at the edge of the original promontory around 80 BC and the settlement was permanently established at its base. Today, we do not know where the first colony under Caesar was established between 46 and 43. At the very most, we can note the creation of parcels of land, dated at 40 BC, around the location of the future district of Saint-Romain-en-Gaul. Strabo, the Greek author who, in his "Geography" describes the south of Gaul after 18 AD, tells us that the capital, which originally was no more than a village, was transformed into a real city by the Allobroges. Was he referring to the time of the Province of Transalpine Gaul or the time of the Province of Gallia Narbonensis ? That question can only be answered one day by doing archaeological excavations under the ancient centre of the present-day city of Vienne.

Trade developed : the Allobroges, like other southern nations, struck silver coins (seahorse coins, circa 90 BC). Beginning in 75 BC, when Transalpine Gaul was taken in hand again, silver currency was imposed on the nations of southern Gaul. As far as port activities were concerned, at the most we can state that ceramics and Italian wine continued to be imported : lucky archaeological excavations have demonstrated the intensity of this trade during the first half of the I^st Century BC, that is to say, immediately after the Gallic wars led by Caesar.
At the end of the 30s BC, Vienne, in spite of having expelled the Roman colonists a few years before, clearly benefited from the status of a colony. The bronze currency it was authorised to strike, and which bore the inscription CIV i.e. : C(olonia) I(ulia) V(iennensium) on the reverse side, testifies to this. Its inhabitants, in spite of their hostile attitude towards Rome, would seem to have become a colony with Latin rights during the 30s BC [Latin law conferred limited rights which made the beneficiaries "half-citizens". They could trade, make a marriage contract with a man or woman who enjoyed the rights of full citizenship, that is of Roman law. They could only belong to the auxiliary units of the Roman army, and, on their release, could, on an individual basis have rights under Roman law which were hereditary. They paid the direct income tax imposed on landed property (tributum). Registered members of a tribu - the inhabitants of Vienne were registered in the Voltinia tribu - they could be called on to vote in Rome and particularly to carry out magistrate duties in Vienne, which entitled them to obtain automatically, on an individual basis, rights under Roman law].