A stroll on the archeological site of the Via Domitia
The Via Domitia, which crossed the present Languedoc-Roussillon, is the oldest romanic path built in Gaul. Its' layout, close to those of motorway A9 and R.N113 was elaborated in 120 B.C.by proconsul Cneius Domitius Ahenobarbus,who annexed the region and gave his name to the antique way. Joining Rome to Cadix, this major communication axis contributed to the growth of the Narbonnese ; The gaulish dwellings on its' passage became stops, as it was the case for the Ambrussums' Oppidum. The name Ambrussum has arrived to us regard to several antique ways and two silver coins bearing four latin letters : AMBR. Chance is, the Ambroix Bridge which has kept its name in modern era, perpetuated the memory of the city.
The Ambroix Bridge
This imposing structure of over a 100m long, which probably had 11 arches, allowed the Domitian Way to cross river Vidourle, and reached the Oppidum.
This Bridge which might be the oldest of the region, may have been built in our early century, maybe at the time when the Route station was created around 30 B-C. Still in use in the middle-age as attested by the edification of a chapel at the XIIth century and the settlement of a small religious community at the XIIIth century. It was partially dismantled at the XIVth century by Gallargues' inhabitants. River overflowing also caused the destruction of several arches.
At the time two arches remained, Gustave Courbet painted it in yhe XIXth C.(Painting in the Musée Fabre of Montpellier.). The 1933 flood took the next to last one.
The Oppidum
The first remains where discovered on the hill in the middle of the XVIIIth C.
At the XIXth C.,discovery signals multiply : neolithic furniture, tombs, gaulish sheds, medieval and romanic houses, as well as different items (fibula, spear, sword, coins...) are digged out.After searches stop, around 1920, searches began again in 1967 under J.-L Fiches' managment. They permitted t o precise the different occupations eras of the site.
So, even if neolithic remains (around 2300 B.C), Bronze-age ceramics (VIIIth C.B.-C), etruscean potsherd and a piece of greek cup (VIth-Vth B.C) are discovered it is only at the end of of the IVth Century B-C. that a real fortified city was built up , the Oppidum.
Gallo-Romanic dwellings
The dwellings you can see on the hill are of the second half of the first century A.-D. and where abandoned in the beginning of the second century as well as the rest of the Oppidum.
Hiding former constructions, these wide dwellings of 400 square meters inspire themselves from romanic urban models, where the parts closest to the entrance where used by slaves and servants whereas the rear rooms where occupied by owners.The construction of domus in Ambrussum witnesses the romanization of inhabitants even though the building techniques and some fitting out remain of local tradition.
The Way(Path)
The paved way, with deep ruts, was the main road of the city.
It was lined by buildings and streets. Traffic was limited due to steepness of slope (9%) and its small width did not allow the crossing of vehicules. Built at the Ist Century A-D. it joined the bridge by an inclined surface, now gone
The public building
Built in the Ist century B-C., this long building was widely open on the north side on a paved square ; four pillars which we now know where they stood, where bearing the roof.
The purpose for this place has not occured for it has been dismantled in its whole in the middle of the second century by scrap merchants : no remains found enables us to precise the real use of the public center. Maybe the portico sheltered a little market.
The Rempart
Oldest visible remain on the hill, the rempart was built at the same time the city was created.
It has had many reworkings : the towers, formely quandrangular have been rounded; they were multiplied during the second century A-D. In its present state, it conserves 26 towers on a 635m length.The part located over the Vidourle has entirely disappeared today : stones have been removed in our modern era to feed the lime-stoves.
The Road Station
Since 1980,next to river Vidourle, researches are made on the road stop-over established around 30 B-C.
Crossed by the Domitian Way which by-passed the Oppidum by the North, service layouts for road users have been found : compounds with a large square at the rear and a wagon entrance to welcome travellers and their crew, public bathes, a house hosting, a forge for hitching up repairs, and a place of worship.
Part of this compound was settled in a flooding area, as the Vidourle was not yet contained by dams.To remain there, dwellers have had to procede, several times between 10B-C. and 75A-D., to big earthworks.
Thus, it is not the Vidourles' floods that caused their departure. It seems that the road station has known a slow but regular decline starting in the middle of the second century, a little after the high-town was deserted. The central part of the square was neglected around the middle of the III.rd C. and at the end of Antique Era, only big buildings in the northern skirts where occupied . Recyclers where already after the ruins neighboring. The area in which present searches have focused where occupied at least until the end of IVth Century.
The stops' searches have released many items relative to Gallo-Romanic daily life, some are explicit about their road related functions (iron wheel straps, bronze elements of harnassment) but most remarkable, are the deposit of 43 deniers and silver jewels all together with playing dices that are presently displayed in Lattes' archeological Museum.
