Le "Palais de la Trouille" à Arles : palais impérial ou palais du préfet ?

Abstract

During the Middle Ages the "Palais de la Trouille" in Aries belonged to the Counts of Provence, and a local tradition says it was the Palace of Constantine. Indeed, several monuments, which are dated by building technique to Late Antiquity, are still preserved in the centre of Aries and local historians interpreted them as a coherent complex. Its most visible part is a public bath of unknonwn date, which could be Constantinian. The most important and recent discovery concerns a huge, oblong building, whose walls, with high windows, are preserved as well as the facade with three entrances separated by columns. This building, which has no internal partitions, is next to the baths, but does not communicate with them. Its size (57 x 25 m) and proportions suggest a monumental hull for civil purposes, perhaps an audience hall. Its date might correspond with the installation of the pretorian prefect of Gaul and the occasional sejourns of several emperors during the 5th century, so that it could well be the public part of an official residence, like the well-known basilicas of Trier and Metz. It is not impossible that this basilica was used for the Christian cult and that it corresponds to the Basilica Constantia mentioned in the Vita s. Hilarii, whose location is unknown. Another part of this complex (perhaps its walls) consists of a Roman tower, which still stands south of the basilica, in the rue de la Liberté. The northern fagade of the forum-cryptoporticus received a new entrance during the reign of Constantine, as is shown by an inscription mentioning Fausta and the three Caesares. Of seemingly more recent date is the construction of a large exedra between the baths and the basilica, which could have been a swimming pool (natatio). Thanks to these recent discoveries, we know the monumental center of Arles in Late Antiquity much better than before, but its architectural unity remains uncertain for the moment, in spite of its perfect insertion in the street plan.