The Santons people occupied Saintonge during the Gallic era. The Romans conquered the region and settled on the banks of the Charente. The town of Saintes (then designated Mediolanum), located at the western end of the Via Agrippa which linked Lyon (capital of the Three Gauls) to the Atlantic coast, quickly became monumental. At the time of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD), the city probably became the capital of the province of Greater Aquitaine (Aquitania). This then extended from the Loire to the Pyrenees. Mediolanum is endowed with important public monuments: the amphitheater, the arch of Germanicus, the thermal baths and the aqueduct are still partially visible today. At the time of its peak (end of the 1st century – beginning of the 2nd century), the city must have had several thousand inhabitants. The amphitheater of Mediolanum is one of the earliest in Gaul. It is estimated that its construction began during the reign of Tiberius (14 – 37 AD), and was completed during the reign of Claudius (41 – 54 AD). Like many amphitheaters of the Roman Empire, that of Saintes was located on the outskirts of the ancient city in a chosen and developed site: the “vallon des Arènes”. Thanks to a favorable topography, the builders were relieved of part of their work, the amphitheater resting on the slope of the valley. This elliptical monument, with imposing dimensions (126 meters long and 102 meters wide), made it possible to accommodate several thousand spectators around bloody and violent representations such as gladiator fights (munera) or animal hunts (venationes ). In the 3rd century, the city declined and was entrenched within an impressive rampart, built from the remains of public and funerary monuments from previous decades. The amphitheater is then no longer used. Since the Middle Ages, it has been used, among other things, as a stone quarry. It was classified as a Historic Monument in 1840. It was from this moment that it was gradually restored. Today, despite the disappearance of the superstructures, the remains provide a faithful image of what this monument could have been at the time of its splendor. The site welcomes visitors all year round. Certain objects found during various excavations in the amphitheater district are visible at the archaeological museum.
Translated by Google •
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