Some ancient remains and bits of history in Fréjus
1- One very venerable aqueduct
At the chance of our journeys in the car or our pedestrian walks, some vestiges titillate the curiosity.
These are monumental ruins, several arches of briquettes, some still well preserved, others of which only the dilapidated pyramid pillars remain, elsewhere flush with the slope of a gentle hill ...
In fact these are the remains of the same aqueduct
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It is an aqueduct whose remains were unearthed in particular at the instigation of the man who was to undertake the restoration work on the Arènes de Lutèce in Paris in the 19th century, the fan of Notre-Dame, Victor Hugo himself.
Here he said in his powerful lyricism: " The new and complete aqueduct was undoubtedly beautiful two thousand years ago, but it was no more beautiful than this gigantic collapse spread over the whole plain, running, falling, rising, sometimes profiling three or four arches in a row. half buried in the earth, sometimes throwing towards the sky an isolated and broken arch or a monstrous buttress standing like a druidic Fulani, sometimes erecting with majesty at the edge of the road a large semicircular arch resting on two cubic massifs, and of ruin suddenly transfigured into a triumphal arch. Ivy and bramble hang over all these magnificences of Rome and time. "
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Below an artist's view of the construction of the aqueduct (Gassend 2000)
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Indeed, at the end of the 1st century, after the battle of Actium (-31) in Greece which saw the defeat of Marc Antoine in front of the emperor Augustus, the latter established here, in the city probably already founded by Julius Caesar around -49 a garrison for its veterans, which had to be supplied with quality fresh water.
Remarkably ingenious and tenacious, the Roman builders whose reputation is already well established will build an aqueduct of more than 41 km capturing to the north a short mountain river at an altitude of 516 meters, the Siagnole.
The work crosses a tormented relief, crosses steep cliffs, deep valleys, the obstacle of wild and dense vegetation.
This explains why the passages are mainly in trenches and bridges, much less in tunnels (and there when crossing a pass, over 852 meters).
Operational for 3 to 4 centuries, destroyed by the barbarians, yet still partially used in its upstream part in the 16th century, it becomes a source of construction material in the development of the city long after.
Here in Fréjus where the aqueduct ends, nothing must have changed much since Victor Hugo's relationship.
But the remains of the ruined arches are now well presented.
Roman architectural engineers
-241: it is the beginning of the construction of the Via Aurelia or Aurelian Way (named after the consul who launched this great project, Caïus Aurelius Cotta), a big roman road towards Gaul. Since Rome , she was passing by Pisa then Luni .
-109: it is extended to Genoa and Vada Sabatia.
-13: the emperor Augustus then pursues it after his conquests in south-eastern Gaul as far as Plaisance and Arles;
It will then be further extended by the Domitian Way towards Hispania.
The Roman implantation passed by the establishment of these ways, and at the same time the routing of water for the installed populations.
Among the 156 Roman aqueducts built in France over at least 3 centuries, around 20 are around "our imperial highway", the Voie Aurélienne in the 3 coastal departments of today (06, 83 and 13) and a little beyond with the one which took the very famous Pont du Gard towards Nîmes.
Antibes
Cimiez
Frejus
Cannet-les-Maures
Tourves
Aix en Provence
near Tarascon
Arles
Hover to see the names of the current cities
Route of the Aurelian Way
2- A distorted circus-arena
The bullring, outside the rampart to the west of the city, leans against a sandstone hill to the northeast.
The radiating walls support the terraces ( the cavea ) by low oblique vaults (which we call “creeping vaults”). The passage of the access stairs to the 1st and 2nd floors is arranged between the walls of the vaults.
From the very spacious and monumental circular gallery (where educational panels tell the story of the construction and the rediscovery of the 19th century), you can access the upper tiers.
From there, under the bright sun, the contemplation of the perfect white ellipse which contrasts harshly with the bleachers is remarkable.
But modern fittings of light concrete, metal and wood cover, probably consolidating them, the steps and the original structures, and completely hide them.
Certainly contemporary or a little later than that of the aqueduct, the construction of the arenas could date from the end of the 1st century to the beginning of the 2nd century AD.
The stands could accommodate around 12,000 spectators.
The arena is 68 meters by 39 meters. Its major east-west axis is 114 meters long and its minor north-south axis is 82 meters, smaller in size than those of Nîmes or Arles.
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It is nothing more than an arena for shows and bullfights; under the steps themselves, a vault shelters a small chapel fitted out for the preparation of the toreador.
Pity...
The ancient city was also endowed with a modest amphitheater further east, the remains of which are today only ruins, also very concrete, that we have barely glimpsed .
The plan below (Gallica source) is that of the ancient city, and locates the Roman monuments or works of art.
Arenas
(Amphi) theater
Arrival of the aqueduct
3- A very talented conventional "abbot" Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès
Father Sieyès hated nobility. During the Revolution, president of the National Assembly in 1790, he was the major actor of the drafting of the new Constitution, and the father founder of Third state.
Although "Montagnard", he dodges deftly the Terror, but made hated by Robespierre who reproached him for his methods of "mole of the Revolution", and avoids beheading.
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Elected President of the Convention in 1795, he failed to get his constitutional ideas across.
After a skillful and brilliant European diplomatic interlude where he tries to moderate the King of Prussia in his intentions to reestablish royalty in France, he becomes a promoter and co-conspirator of Coup d'Etat of 18 Brumaire; but his support is then quickly dismissed by Bonaparte.
He is the brilliant and outstanding historical personality of Fréjus, where he was born in 1748.
Fréjus pays homage to him, all feathered like the conventional ones, in a sort of stele on the large central square of the city, Place Clémenceau, at the top of the hill.
