Editing Arles (section)

===Ancient era===
[[File:Arènes d'Arles 1.jpg|thumb|left|[[Arles Amphitheatre]], a Roman arena]]
[[File:Passageway in Roman arena.JPG|thumb|upright|Passageway in the Amphitheatre]]
The [[Ligures|Ligurians]] were in this area from about 800 BC. Later [[Celts|Celtic]] influences have also been discovered. The city became an important [[Phoenicia]]n trading port, before it was taken over by the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]].

The Romans took the town in 123 BC and expanded it into an important city. They built a canal link to the [[Mediterranean Sea]] in 104 BC. Arles had to compete with [[Marseille|Massalia]] (Marseille) further along the coast.

Arles' leaders sided with [[Julius Caesar]] against [[Pompey]], providing military support. Massalia backed Pompey; when Caesar emerged victorious, Massalia was stripped of its possessions, which were transferred to Arelate as a reward. The town was formally established as a colony for veterans of the [[Roman legion]] [[Legio VI Ferrata|Legio VI ''Ferrata'']], which had its base there. Its full title as a colony was ''Colonia Iulia Paterna Arelatensium Sextanorum'', "the ancestral Julian colony of Arles of the soldiers of the Sixth."

Arelate was a city of considerable importance in the province of [[Gallia Narbonensis]]. It covered an area of some {{convert|40|ha}} and possessed a number of monuments, including [[Arles Amphitheatre|an amphitheatre]], [[triumphal arch]], [[Roman circus#row-Arelate|Roman circus]], [[Roman theatre (structure)|theatre]], and a full circuit of walls. Ancient Arles was closer to the sea than it is now and served as a major port. The river has carried centuries of silt that has filled in the former harbor. The city had (and still has) the southernmost bridge on the Rhône.

The recently discovered republican House of the Harpist is an exceptional example of ancient architecture and interior decoration. Dating from 70-50 BC, it has yielded elaborate frescoes.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/03/its-exactly-like-a-puzzle-experts-on-piecing-together-roman-fresco-find|title='It's exactly like a puzzle': experts on piecing together Roman fresco find|date=3 September 2021|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=11 June 2022}}</ref>

The Roman bridge was unique in that it was not fixed but consisted of a pontoon-style [[bridge of boats]], with towers and drawbridges at each end. The boats were secured in place by anchors and were tethered to twin towers built just upstream of the bridge. This unusual design was a way of coping with the river's frequent violent floods, which would have made short work of a conventional bridge. Nothing remains of the Roman bridge, which has been replaced by a more modern bridge near the same spot.

The city reached a peak of influence during the 4th and 5th centuries, when [[Roman Emperor]]s frequently used it as their headquarters during military campaigns in Europe. In 395, it became the seat of the [[Praetor]]ian Prefecture of the [[Gaul]]s, governing the western part of the Western Empire: Gaul proper plus [[Hispania]] (Spain) and [[Armorica]] ([[Brittany]]). At that time, the city was home to an estimated 75,000&ndash;100,000 people.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/1166147 |title = "The Fall and Decline of the Roman Urban Mind" |last1 = Fischer |first1 = Svante |last2 = Victor |first2 = Helena}}</ref><ref>{{Google books |id=nyQVAgAAQBAJ |page=78 |title=Rick Steves's Provence & the French Riviera }}</ref><ref>{{Google books |id=ZmA18QOiBUUC |page=1173 |title=Nelson's Dictionary of Christianity: The Authoritative Resource on the Christian World }}</ref><ref>{{Google books |id=wZqSDRP6vuoC |page=81 |title=Provence }}</ref>

It became a favorite city of Emperor [[Constantine I]], who built [[Thermae|baths]] there, substantial remains of which are still standing. His son, [[Constantine II of the Roman Empire|Constantine II]], was born in Arles. [[Roman usurper|Usurper]] [[Constantine III (usurper)|Constantine III]] declared himself emperor in the West (407–411) and made Arles his capital in 408.

Arles became renowned as a cultural and religious centre during the late Roman Empire. It was the birthplace of [[Favorinus]], known as the sceptical philosopher. It was also a key location for Roman Christianity and an important base for the [[Christianization]] of Gaul. The [[Ancient Diocese of Arles|city's bishopric]] was held by a series of outstanding clerics, beginning with [[Saint Trophimus]] around 225 and continuing with Saint [[Honoratus]], then Saint [[Hilary of Arles|Hilarius]] in the first half of the 5th century. The political tension between the Catholic bishops of Arles and the [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] kings is epitomized in the career of the Frankish St. [[Caesarius of Arles|Caesarius, bishop of Arles]] 503–542. Suspected by the [[Arianism|Arian]] Visigoth [[Alaric II]] of conspiring with the [[Burgundians]] to turn over the Arelate to Burgundy, he was exiled for a year to Bordeaux in Aquitaine. Political tensions were evident again in 512, when Arles held out against [[Theodoric the Great]]. Caesarius was imprisoned and sent to [[Ravenna]] to explain his actions before the [[Ostrogoths|Ostrogothic]] king.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ccel.org/ccel/wace/biodict/biodict/Page_Index.html |title=Christian Classics Ethereal Library |website=ccel.org |access-date=11 June 2022}}</ref>

The friction between the Arian Christianity of the [[Visigoths]] and the Catholicism of the bishops sent out from Rome established deep roots for religious [[heterodoxy]], even [[heresy]], in [[Occitania|Occitan]] culture. At [[Treves]] in 385, [[Priscillian]] achieved the distinction of becoming the first Christian executed for [[heresy]] ([[Manichaean]] in his case, see also [[Cathar]]s, [[Camisards]]). Despite this tension and the city's decline in the face of [[barbarian]] invasions, Arles remained a great religious centre. It hosted church councils (see [[Council of Arles]]), the rival of [[Vienne, Isère|Vienne]], for hundreds of years.