Editing Via Domitia

{{short description|Roman road linking Italy and Hispania through Gallia Narbonensis}}
{{infobox ancient site
| name=Via Domitia
| image=Via domitia map600x600 (1).png
| caption=  Route of the Via Domitia
| coordinates =
| location= [[Briançon]], France to [[La Junquera]], Spain
| map_type = 
| epochs =118 BC 
| builder= [[Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 122 BC)|Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus]] and [[Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus]]
| type=[[Roman road]]
}}

The '''Via Domitia''' was the first [[Roman road]] built in [[Gaul]], to link [[Italy]] and [[Hispania]] through [[Gallia Narbonensis]], across what is now [[Southern France]]. The route that the Romans regularised and paved was ancient when they set out to survey it, and traces the mythic route travelled by [[Heracles]].<ref>F. Benoît, "La légende d'Héraclès et la colonisation grecque dans le delta du Rhône", ''L'Humanité'' '''8''' (1949:104-48), noted by Fred S. Kleiner, "Gallia Graeca, Gallia Romana and the Introduction of Classical Sculpture in Gaul" ''American Journal of Archaeology'' '''77'''.4 (October 1973:379-390) p. 381 note 20, with further bibliography.</ref>

The construction of the road was commissioned by [[Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 122 BC)|Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus]], whose name it bore, following the defeat of the [[Allobroges]] and [[Averni]] by himself and [[Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus]] in 122 BCE. Domitius also established a fortified garrison at Narbo (modern [[Narbonne]]) on the coast, near Hispania, to guard construction of the road. It soon developed into a full Roman colony ''Colonia Narbo Martius''.<ref>Brennan,T.C.,The Praetorship in the Roman Republic, p. 507</ref> The lands on the western part of the route, beyond the [[River Rhône]] had been under the control of the Averni who, according to [[Strabo]], had stretched their control to Narbo and the Pyrenees.<ref>Strabo, Geography, 4.2.3</ref>

Crossing the Alps by the easiest passage, the [[Col de Montgenèvre]] (1850 m), the Via Domitia followed the valley of the [[Durance]], crossed the [[Rhône]] at [[Beaucaire, Gard|Beaucaire]] passed through [[Nîmes]] (Nemausus) then followed the coastal plain along the [[Gulf of Lion]]. At Narbonne, it met the [[Via Aquitania]] (which led toward the [[Atlantic Ocean]] through [[Toulouse]] and [[Bordeaux]]). Thus Narbonne was a crucial strategic crossroads of the Via Domitia and the Via Aquitania, and it was an accessible, but easily defensible port at that time. 

This "cusp point" in the Roman westwards expansion and ensuing supply, communication and fortification was a very important asset, and was treated as such (see [[Narbonne]]). In between the cities that it linked, the Via Domitia was provided with a series of ''[[mansio]]nes'' at distances of a [[day's journey]] for a loaded cart, at which shelter, provender and fresh horses could be obtained for travellers on official business.

The route as it was in [[Late Antiquity]] is represented in schematic fashion on the ''[[Tabula Peutingeriana]]''.

==Route==
This route can be traced on topographical maps overprinted with the ancient route, in G. Castellve, J.-B. Compsa, J. Kotarba and A. Pezin, eds. ''Voies romaines du Rhône à l'Èbre: Via Domitia et Via Augusta'' (''DAF'' '''61''') Paris 1997.
* [[Briançon]] (''[[Brigantio]]'')
* [[Chorges]] (''[[Caturigomagus]]'')
* [[Gap, Hautes-Alpes|Gap]] (''[[Vapincum]]'')
* [[Le Monetier Allemont]] (''[[Alabons]]'')
* [[Embrun, Hautes-Alpes|Embrun]] (''[[Embrun, Hautes-Alpes|Eburodunum]]'')
* [[Sisteron]] (''[[Segustero]]'')
* [[Lurs, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence|Lurs]] (''[[Alaunium]]'')
* [[Céreste]] (''[[Catuiacia]]'')
* [[Apt, Vaucluse|Apt]] (''[[Apta Julia]]'')
* [[Notre Dame des Lumières]] (''Ad Fines'')
* [[Cavaillon]] (''[[Cabellio]]'')
* [[Saint-Rémy-de-Provence]] (''[[Glanum]]'')
* [[Tarascon|Saint-Gabriel]] (''[[Ernaginum]]'')
* [[Beaucaire, Gard|Beaucaire]] (''[[Ugernum]]'')
* [[Nîmes]] (''[[Nemausus]]'')
* ''[[Ambrussum]]''
* [[Lunel-Vieil]]
* [[Castelnau-le-Lez]] (''[[Sextantio]]'')
* [[Montpellier]] ''route remains unknown''
* [[Montbazin]] (''[[Forum Domitii]]'')
* [[Mèze]]
* [[Pinet, Hérault|Pinet]]
* [[Saint-Thibéry]] (''[[Cessero]]'') and [[Roman Bridge (Saint-Thibéry)|its Roman bridge]]
* [[Béziers]] (''[[Baeterris]]'')
* [[Narbonne]] (''[[Narbo Martius]]'') At Narbonne, a section of the Via Domitia is exposed in the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville. The Via Domitia crossed the Atax (the [[Aude]]) by a seven-arched bridge at the site of the Pont des Marchands.<ref>[http://narbonne.latitude-gallimard.com/narbonne-article0520.html Narbonne: Remains of the Domitian Way] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928090658/http://narbonne.latitude-gallimard.com/narbonne-article0520.html |date=September 28, 2007 }}</ref>
* [[Fitou]] (''[[Ad Viscensimum]]'')
* [[Salses]] (''[[Ad Salsulae]]'')
* [[Perpignan]]
* [[County of Roussillon|Ruscino]]
''At Ruscino, the road separates in two: the Inland Route and the Coastal Route, which rejoin at [[La Jonquera]]. ''

'''Coastal Route'''
* [[Elne]] (''Illiberis'')
* [[Saint-Cyprien, Loire|Saint-Cyprien]]
* [[Argelès]]
* [[Collioure]]
* [[Port-Vendres]] (''[[Portus Veneris]]'')
* [[Banyuls-sur-Mer|Banyuls]]

'''Inland Route'''
* [[Montescot]]
* [[Le Boulou]]
* [[Les Cluses]] (''[[Clausurae]]'')
* [[Le Perthus]] (''[[Col de Panissars]]''), at the [[Trophy of Pompey]]

'''Rejoins at:'''
* [[La Jonquera]] (''[[Deciana]]'')

Here the [[Via Augusta]] begins.

==Roman bridges==
{{further|List of Roman bridges}}

There are the remains of several Roman bridges along the road, including the [[Roman Bridge (Saint-Thibéry)|Roman Bridge of Saint-Thibéry]], the [[Pont Ambroix]] at [[Ambrussum]], the [[Pont Julien]] and the [[Pont Serme]].

<gallery caption="Images for the '''Via Domitia'''">
File:St-Thibery-Pont-Romain1.JPG|St-Thibéry: Roman Bridge
File:France map Lambert-93 topographic-ancient Roman roads.svg|Via Domitia in ({{color|#A020F0 |pink}})
File:Photos-0018.jpg|Via Domitia and [[Via Augusta]] junction at the [[Trophy of Pompey]]<ref name="Reiss2016">{{cite book |last1=Riess |first1=Frank |title=Narbonne and its Territory in Late Antiquity: From the Visigoths to the Arabs |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-09069-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=olcGDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT286 |language=en}}</ref>
File:Ambrussum voies marquées 10-04-2006.jpg|Chariot ruts in the Via Domitia
File:Via Domitia (Narbonne).jpg|Narbonne: Via Domitia uncovered in front of the Archbishop's palace
File:Pinet via Domitia.jpg|The Via Domitia in [[Pinet, Hérault]]
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Roman roads]]
* [[Roman bridge]]
* [[Roman engineering]]
* [[Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 122 BC)|Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus]]
* [[Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus]]

==Notes==
<!--This article uses the Cite.php citation mechanism. If you would like more information on how to add references to this article, please see http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cite/Cite.php -->
{{reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
* Raymond Chevalier, ''Les Voies Romaines'', Picard, Paris, 1997. {{ISBN|2-7084-0526-8}}
* Pierre A. Clement and Alain Peyre, ''La Voie Domitienne: De la Via Domitia aux routes de l'an 2000'', Presses du Languedoc/Max Chaleil Editeur, 1992. {{ISBN|2-85998-097-0}}
* Pierre A. Clement, ''La Via Domitia: Des Pyrénées aux Alpes'', Editions Ouest-France, Rennes, 2005. {{ISBN|2-7373-3508-6}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Via Domitia}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110720173333/http://via-domitia.eu/via_uk.html "Suivez la Via Domitia" DVD 60 mins. English - French - German]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928164339/http://www.luberon-news.com/kiosque/histoire/la_via_domitia/la_via_domitia Luberon News - Via Domitia] {{in lang|fr}}
* [http://www.pagendarm.de/schorsch/earth/ViaDomitia/index_e.html Traces of the Via Domitia]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120117140025/http://stthibery.francesouth.com/ St Thibery - Via Domitia]

{{List of Roman roads}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 2nd century BC]]
[[Category:Roman roads in Gaul|Domitia, Via]]
[[Category:History of Narbonne]]
[[Category:110s BC establishments]]
[[Category:2nd-century BC establishments in the Roman Republic]]
[[Category:Gallia Narbonensis]]