Εμφανίζονται 1 τίτλοι με αναζήτηση: Πληροφορίες για τον τόπο στην ευρύτερη περιοχή: "ΑΓΝΤΕ Πόλη ΓΑΛΛΙΑ" .
ΑΓΝΤΕ (Πόλη) ΓΑΛΛΙΑ
Agatha (Agde) Herault, France.
Massalian trading post (Scymn. V. 208; Strab. 4.1.5-6; Plin. 3.33; Pompon. 2.5;
Ptol. 2.10.2; Steph. Byz. s.v.) at the head of the delta of the Herault on a low
butte which has been inhabited continually since antiquity. It is a few km S of
the important native oppidum of Bessan. While the Massaliots possessed several
trading posts on the shores of Provence and the E coast of Spain, Agatha, which
was founded in the 6th c. B.C. shortly after the installation of the Phokaians
at Marseille, was the only town on the Gulf of Lion which was occupied by the
Greeks in the pre-Roman period. There were several complementary motives for its
foundation: a military one, raised by Strabo, for the protection of Greek commerce
from barbarian incursions, and above all an economic reason. Agde, at the mouth
of the coastal river which, with the Aude, is the most important of all Languedoc,
was particularly well placed to serve as a way-station and intermediary between
the Mediterranean lands and the interior of Gaul, including the Cevennes Massif,
famous in antiquity for its mineral wealth. Agde was both a river and seaport,
and played a commercial role of the first importance in the W Mediterranean, a
role apparently maintained under the Romans, despite the fact that the town was
some distance from the great highway of Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus, which ran close
to the neighboring city of Baeterrae (Beziers) and not far from the great port
of Narbonne. In the 5th c. Agde became the center of a small diocese, and a council
was held there in 506. Sporadic explorations during the last few decades have
shown that the Greek town was situated on the highest (16 m) part of the site
of the mediaeval and modern town. Aerial reconnaissance and study of the topography
indicate that it was a true citadel, probably laid out in a checkerboard pattern
measuring 200 m a side. This is very similar to the plan of Olbia in Provence
and Emponon in Catalonia. It was surrounded by a rampart of which some vestiges
probably remain. The few soundings which have been made confirm these observations.
They have also led to the discovery of some interesting ceramics and three Greek
inscriptions, the only ones so far discovered in Languedoc. The extent of the
Roman town is uncertain, but appears to have been no greater than that of the
Greek town. Under the Late Empire, two Early Christian funerary basilicas, St.
Andre and St Sever, were established outside the walls, SW of the agglomeration.
The principal discoveries testifying to the commercial activity of
Agde in antiquity have been made not in the town itself, but in the bed of the
Heault and at sea off Cape Agde (brass and lead ingots, imported amphorae and
ceramics, metal dishes, basalt millstones made near Agde). It was in the river
bed at Agde that a magnificent bronze statue was discovered in 1964. It is 1.4
m high, and believed to be the portrait of a Hellenistic prince.
All the archaeological finds made at Agde, in the surrounding area,
and at sea, are preserved in the local Archaeological Museum.
G. Barruol, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Feb 2006 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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