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| VIENNE, CITY-STATE OF GALLIA NARBONENSIS | |
| THE CITY-STATE OF THE ALLOBROGES |
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| DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY OF VIENNE |
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THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY-STATE OF VIENNE
In 17-18 AD the geographer Strabo was of the opinion that Vienne was a well-equipped city : it no doubt possessed decorative monuments worthy of a city. This observation is borne out by archaeology. In fact, during that era, the forum and the Temple of Rome and Augustus were built. The wall was probably being finished.Outside the wall a few roads ran through the Sainte-Colombe and Saint-Romain-en-Gaul districts as well as in the circus district where floods of the Rhône no longer threatened the alluvial plain. There were a few houses In these new areas but they were not yet real urban districts. In the neighbourhood of these houses potteries and bronze foundries have been noted.
About 40 AD the city underwent a major new phase of construction, no doubt following its being granted Roman status. The theatre and probably the Pipet Sanctuary as well as the big warehouses on the land reclaimed on the left bank of the Rhône were built. The extramural districts developed and took on a truly urban aspect. Houses bordered by little shops and small warehouses occupied all these areas. Sewers were laid beneath the road system.
Another period of development occurred at the very end of the Ist Century AD as can be seen from the construction of the odeum and a first circus in the vicinity of the big warehouses. This last building was to be replaced by a much bigger circus during the second half of the IInd Century. The city was to achieve its greatest growth at the end of the IInd Century AD with 30,000 inhabitants. Towards the middle of the IIIrd Century AD some of the extramural districts were abandoned. Vienne's city plan reflects the crisis affecting the Roman Empire. This phenomenon is confirmed in the IVth Century : the city gradually fell back to the original promontory on the left bank. The Roman world became officially Christian in 314. Now we have reached the Lower Empire, just as the religion changed so did the administration and society but that is another story.
