Historical Graffiti

One of the fascinating things about climbing around Roman ruins is discovering the graffiti left by past visitors. While there is an abundance of ball-point pen etchings from recent visitors that pains a historian like me to see, I find I am less pained when I find graffiti from hundreds of years ago. Many of the places I have visited were stops along the route of the Grand Tour, a mostly British tradition of taking a year after graduating from university to tour the Continent. While many of these tours involved copious amounts of alcohol and numerous brothel visits, others involved trips to view the ruins of Rome, which were becoming increasingly popular as part of the Neo-Classical movement. I make a point at every site to try to find the oldest graffiti. At many places the oldest is from the 18th or 19th century, but at some, such as the Temple of Diana in Nimes, the oldest dates to the medieval period, with a number of inscriptions from the 17th century. I loved discovering that writing one's name and the name of one's lover inside a heart dates back at least to the early 18th century. I have also since learned that graffiti of hammers next to one's name is something that stonemasons did when they visited an ancient building with architecture they particularly admired. This is why there are so many images of hammers on the Pont du Gard. It was an engineering masterpiece that all stonemasons admired. While Pompeii is said to have more graffiti than any other place and I look forward to seeing it, I have also enjoyed finding graffiti on lesser-known buildings that demonstrate first how old the tourism industry is, and second, how long Roman ruins have received the admiration of visitors like me. Although, while I can admire historical graffiti, I could never bring myself to add my own message to later generations of intrepid visitors.

Lovers' Graffiti from 1725, Temple of Diana, Nimes

Stonemasons' graffiti from 1642 and 1677, Temple of Diana, Nimes

The Role of Marseilles in Destroying the Gallic Tribes

     One of the interesting things about transitioning from being an armchair historian, where all my knowledge came from books, to doing research in the field is the ability to see very different types of patterns. While I knew intellectually before this trip that Marseilles facilitated the Roman intrusion into Gaul by requesting Roman aid in 123 BCE (one of a number of requests between the 150s and 120s to various powers), I had not realized the impact that Marseilles decision had on the people who stood in Rome's way. Since Roman tradition stipulated that Rome could only fight defensive wars, it relied on rather thin pretexts such as aiding allies to annex new territory. Marseilles request for help dealing with Gallic tribes threatening their trading hegemony provided such a pretext.

The ruins of a house at Entremont

     The impact of Rome's decision to attack these Gallic tribes is usually seen through the eyes of the Romans, both because they won and because they had the ability to record their successes in writing. By visiting the ruins of their main towns, Entremont and Glanum, I got a glimpse of the war through their eyes. Entremont was the main hill-top oppidum (town) of the Saluvii and it was completely destroyed in 122 by the Romans. The site now is just a series of less than knee-high walls, a few archaeological finds such as the series of carved heads representing the headhunting cult, and a lot of Roman lead "bullets." The Romans further facilitated the destruction of Entremont by constructing a new Roman colony, Aqua Sextiae (now Aix-en-Provence), at the bottom of the hill. The other main oppidum of the Saluvii, Glanum, was conquered at the same time, but that conquest had to be "reinforced" in the 90s and again in the 70s. The city was transformed first into a Hellenistic city, then a Roman one. Its ruins are therefore an eclectic mix of architectural types.

Looking down on the ruins of Glanum from the Belvedere

     What really captured my attention at these sites, beyond the excitement of traipsing across ruins, was the combined sense of pride and sadness in the written descriptions accompanying the ruins. Pride I expected, since southern France has some spectacular Roman ruins. The sadness was unexpected. There was a sense in the words that while the Roman conquest did France a great deal of good both in ancient times and in the modern tourist industry, it came at the expense of the indigenous tribes. The Roman conquest not only destroyed the Saluvii completely even before Caesar's entrance in the 50s BCE, but also destroyed the ability of the modern world to know much at all about these people. The descriptions thus attempt to honor the Romans and the Saluvii at the same time.  I also found it quite interesting that while the signs at the two conquered sites mentioned the role of Marseilles in the conquest, the museums in Marseilles seemed to downplay its role, highlighting its Greek past and its positive relationship with Rome.
     While I could read about the Saluvii and see pictures of the sites in books, I would not have noticed the emotional undertone of both the sites and the signs without visiting. My dissertation is essentially about the positive results of Roman conquest for Rome--the celebrations, the triumphal architecture, the luxury goods, etc.--but this trip definitely got me thinking about the negative results.

Cats and Roman Ruins

While cats are typically associated with ancient Egypt, I noticed that in France they seem to have an affinity with the Romans. At almost every Roman site I visited, I found cats sunbathing in the ruins. Of course, this could have more to do with a) the feral cat problem in France, b) the warmth of sun-bathed marble, or c) large open areas to serve as litter boxes. I prefer to think that cats have a natural affinity for all things ancient and enjoy utilizing ruins to sit enthroned and look down haughtily on mere mortals.

Avignon

October 6, 2013

     I have spent the last two days wandering the rabbit warren of streets that constitutes Avignon amidst spectacular weather. I normally am I great fan of fall weather, but I can't help but enjoy this prolonged summer, even if it was windy enough to knock me down today! Yesterday I began at the Palais de Papes. While I have seen many pictures of the outside of the palace, I did not know that there were well-preserved frescoes inside. Apparently, the Avignon popes hired Italian artists in order to demonstrate that Avignon was a legitimate papacy. My favorite frescoes were in the papal bedroom. The walls were decorated with various aristocratic hunting scenes, flora and fauna, including fantastical animals, and various patterns of leaves and trees. The colors were amazingly well preserved, especially considering the fact that the entire palace was transformed into a barracks during the French Revolution.

     My next stop was Le Pont St. Benezet, birthplace of the folk song "Sur Le Pont D'Avignon," and apparently of a 12th c. shepherd named Benezet who was forced to perform miracles in order to convince Avignon officials that God has told him to build a bridge. I have never seen a bridge with not one, but three chapels built into it! Much of the rest of my day was spent getting lost and stumbling upon various old churches and convents, ranging from 12th century Romanesque to 17th century Neo-Gothic. I even found a few Roman ruins, including part of the Forum's foundation wall, near the Place D'Horloge.

Palais de Papes, Avignon

Of Pigeons and Garden Beasts

     One of the great things about a trip that is three months long instead of a week or two is that there is time to just sit and enjoy what you see. In Paris, I sat in the Tuileries gardens and fed the pigeons. I must say, French pigeons are much more daring and friendly than American pigeons. One sat next to me on my bench in the Tuileries and patiently waited for me to feed him while his fellows say below. Another pigeon joined me in the Starbucks inside the Gare du Lyon and even wandered behind the counter. Now in Avignon, I have not only seen similarly behaved pigeons, but also sat next to a grotto in the Palais de Papes gardens and fed the resident papal turtle and his fellow carp in the pond. I am not normally a feeder of wildlife, but there is something very "vacationly" about sitting in a garden feeding animals.

The Grotto of Turtles and Carp, Gardens of the Palais de Papes, Avignon

The Art of Planning

     Today's great adventure was figuring out how to get to the Avignon Centre train station and then from there how to purchase a ticket from the machine equipped only with my atrocious French. The adventure was complicated by the fact that in France, or at least in Avignon, free wifi (the actual name, mind you) costs money. You must pick a brand and purchase some air time and then hope that your brand is available when you need it. All the town squares have wifi networks available, you just have to find the squares that host your network. Mine, unfortunately, was not available at the train station so I couldn't check to see what days I had chosen for my various trips on my un-updated OneNote notebook. I had to wander around until I found a square that had my network, then head back and buy my ticket. I am slightly nervous that I did it incorrectly, because the ticket has no times on it, only Aller/Retour, so hopefully I can just hop on and off like a bus. Otherwise, I just wasted €75!

     Tomorrow I head to Aix-en-Provence, the former Aqua Sextiae, as well as the oppidum of Entremont, which fell to the Romans in 123 BCE, right in my dissertation time period. This will be my first experience of Roman ruins as a dedicated historian instead of an overly excited college student, though I am still overly excited for the experience!

Welcome!

     For the next three months, I will be traveling through France, Spain, and Italy doing research for my dissertation on the Roman Republic. I like to keep a journal about my experiences when I travel, and decided to create a blog so that friends and family can follow me on my travels.  I hope you enjoy reading about my adventures!

October 4, 2013: The Perils of Peanut Butter

     I will say once again, that travel is exhausting...and a headache. My trip began rather inauspiciously with two pat downs at Sea-Tac. My gluten and dairy intolerance led me to bring almond butter so that I would have something to eat at an airport full of sandwich shops. Only, I forgot that almond butter is considered a liquid and had my 5 ounce jar in my carry on. I made the mistake of explaining my situation instead of just tossing the jar. Thus, I posed a security risk and required a pat down. Apparently I had some offensive odor on my clothing, because when the lady conducting the pat down tested her gloves, they triggered an alarm. They didn't tell me what had set off the alarm, it could have been anything from laundry detergent to bomb materials. I find it rather frustrating how many harmless chemicals set off the alarm. The result? A security escort to a private room (read, holding cell) for another pat down. Ultimately, they let me through and I left praying the rest of the trip would be harmless. While not a huge deal, I do have to say that being forced to eat British Airways' version of a gluten free breakfast, five slices of orange, while watching the woman next to me wolf down a ham-and-cheese stuffed croissant was terribly depressing. Despite several more calamities, I made it to my apartment and after 12 hours of near-comatose sleep I was ready to explore Paris!

Paris!

     Despite the unseasonable humidity (80% and 75 degrees), Paris was great fun. Since I only had a day, I decided to do a walking tour to get all the places that are outside done before I return in January. I walked from my apartment near the Place de la Republique down the Boulevard de Sebastopol to the Seine. From there I viewed the Hotel de Ville, remembering how many events from the French Revolution took place in the square in front of it. If I had to name a "favorite" event, it would probably be Robespierre getting shot in the jaw, because frankly the man deserved it! I crossed the Seine to the Île-de-la-Cité to see Notre Dame. It always triggers my imagination to look upon a building so old and to think of all the history it silently witnessed. I decided not to wait in line to go inside, but to save it for my return in January. I walked along the buildings of the Palais de Justice thinking of how Louis IX dispensed justice from the site in the thirteenth century, despite the fact that only his Sainte Chapelle survives. 

     Seeing the Conciergerie and knowing that so many people, inlcuding Marie Antoinette, were imprisoned inside until they were taken by cart across the Seine and along the Quai to the Place de la Revolution (former Place Louis XV, now Place de la Concorde) to meet Madame Guillotine was rather awe-inspiring. Following their path, I headed to the Louvre for a few hours. I worked my way through as much of the museum as I could in three hours, only managing about a third of the museum. After that, I headed through the Tuileries Gardens to the Place de la Concorde to catch the metro back home and meet my aunt and uncle for dinner.

David, The Intervention of the Sabine Women (1799)

     Now, I am sitting on the TGV headed to Avignon and watching a mist-covered France pass me by. I can see the kinship with England, even if no French or English want to admit it, in the rolling hills spotted with cows, sheep, goats, and sleepy villages with their looming church spires. Even the land seems old in comparison to the U.S., but I imagine that I am the only person who feels that way. I can't help but look at these little villages and wonder how they fared in history. Who was their feudal overlord? Did the host medieval markets? Did the plague visit them? Did their villagers attack the local nobles in the Revolution or sacrifice their food to Napoleon's Grand Armée? Did trenches criss-cross the land during the Great War? Did they lose villagers to German work or concentration camps? There are plenty of questions to occupy my imagination. Tonight I must figure out the order of my day trips so that I can maximize my time, but tomorrow I will explore Avignon itself. Onward to the next adventure!