Note complémentaire sur l’enceinte du castrum des Arènes de Nîmes

Abstract

In Nîmes, repair work done for an apartment located on 33 rue de l’Aspic in 2009 had led to the discovery of an unknown segment of the wall of amphitheater’s castrum dating back Late Roman Empire or Early Middle Ages. This large wall, revealed in 1976 during construction of the Law Courts, was then seen on 46 m length in the area of the project and also observed elevation inside two courtyards of Valfons’ hotel. A new intervention in 2014 above the wall studied in 2009 continues to enrich the folder of that particular rampart. This note shows that the amount of reused blocks needed to be much more important than the assumptions made in 2009 by the same author and he offers to see an exceptionally large monument, perhaps a stadium or a circus located outside the walls, which would have served as quarry in the construction of castrum. ❚ ❚ Keywords : Late Roman Empire, Early Middle Ages, rampart, massive masonry,