The term Via Agrippa, describes any stretch of the network of Roman roads in Gaul

Gaul

Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...

 that were built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and defense minister to Octavian, the future Emperor Caesar Augustus...

, to whom Octavian

Augustus

Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...

 entrusted the reorganization of the Gauls. In all, the Romans built 21000 kilometres (13,048.8 mi) of roads in Gaul.

Agrippa's project

Agrippa's network radiated from a hub at the new strategic site of Lugdunum

Lugdunum

Colonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugdunum was an important Roman city in Gaul. The city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus. It served as the capital of the Roman province Gallia Lugdunensis. To 300 years after its foundation Lugdunum was the most important city to the west part of Roman...

 (Lyon

Lyon

Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

). Strabo

Strabo

Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...

 indicated the directions, which were identified by Pierre Gros:

• a route towards the Atlantic
  Atlantic Ocean
  The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
  
  , From Lugdunum/Lyon towards Saintes
  Saintes
  Saintes is a French commune located in Poitou-Charentes, in the southwestern Charente-Maritime department of which it is a sub-prefecture. Its inhabitants are called Saintaises and Saintais....
  
  
• a route towards the North Sea
  North Sea
  In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
  
  , via Reims
  Reims
  Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
  
  , Beauvais
  Beauvais
  Beauvais is a city approximately by highway north of central Paris, in the northern French region of Picardie. It currently has a population of over 60,000 inhabitants.- History :...
  
   and Amiens
  Amiens
  Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
  
  
• a route towards the Rhine, via Langres
  Langres
  Langres is a commune in north-eastern France. It is a subprefecture of the Haute-Marne département in the Champagne-Ardenne region.-History:As the capital of the Romanized Gallic tribe the Lingones, it was called Andematunnum, then Lingones, and now Langres.The town is built on a limestone...
  
  , Trier
  Trier
  Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
  
   and Cologne
  Cologne
  Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
  
  
• and a route towards the south, to Marseille
  Marseille
  Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
  
  .

Though the detailed routes taken by the various stretches of the Via Agrippa are well settled on the ground, the dates of construction are still debated: in 39-38 BCE, according to the authors of the Guide romain antique; 22-21 BCE, according to Pierre Gros; or between 16-13 BCE, according to Paul Petit.

The southern route

An ancient salt road

Salt Road

A salt road ) is any of the prehistoric and historical trade routes by which essential salt has been transported to regions that lacked it ....

 passed to the mouths of the Rhône

Rhône

Rhone can refer to:* Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France* Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of Valais in Switzerland...

, keeping to the lower slopes of the hills to avoid the river's sometimes swampy flood plain. Under the impetus of Augustus, Agrippa paved a route that lay closer to the river, passing through the important Roman cities of Arles

Arles

Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence....

, Avignon

Avignon

Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...

, Montélimar

Montélimar

Montélimar is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. It is the second-largest town in the department after Valence.-History:...

, Valence, Vienne, interspersed with relay stations (mutationes) where a change of horses was maintained for official couriers. This route was augmented by the Via Antonina along the right bank of the Rhône.

Traces of the via Agrippa

Near Valence, the modern Route nationale 7

Route nationale 7

The Route nationale 7, or RN 7, is a trunk road in France between Paris and the border with Italy. It was also known as the Route Bleue and — sarcastically, during the annual rush to the Mediterranean beaches — the Route de la Mort .-History:The Romans under Marcus Agrippa established...

 follows the track of the via Agrippa.

To the north of the Isère

Isère

Isère is a department in the Rhône-Alpes region in the east of France named after the river Isère.- History :Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Dauphiné...

 the via Agrippa, having passed the crossroads still called Sept Chemins ("Seven Roads") followed the line now marked by Route départementale 101 towards Beaumont-Monteux

Beaumont-Monteux

Beaumont-Monteux is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France.-Population:-References:*...

; there a Route communale and a pathway trace the straight Roman track which serves as boundary between the communes of Beaumont-Monteux and Pont-de-l'Isère. Nearby, the toponym Vie Magne records the passage of the via magna, the "great road".

Roman milestones

Inscribed standing mile stones placed along the route indicated the miles from the starting point (capita viae) with Vienne, Valence or Avignon, as well as the magistrate or emperor who had them erected or maintained.

In addition to twenty-two surviving milestone

Milestone

A milestone is one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at intervals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. They are typically located at the side of the road or in a median. They are alternatively known as mile markers, mileposts or mile posts...

s recovered along the route is one of the 3rd or 4th century reused in the ambulatory

Ambulatory

The ambulatory is the covered passage around a cloister. The term is sometimes applied to the procession way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar....

 of the choir of the Cathedral of Valence

Valence Cathedral

Valence Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Valence, Drôme, dedicated to Saint Apollinaris of Valence.It is the seat of the Bishop of Valence....

, where its inscription may still be read:

IMP(ERATOR) CAESAR L(UCIUS) DOMIT[IUS]

AURELIANU[S] P(IUS) [F(ELIX)] INV[I]CT[US]

[AU]G(USTUS) P(ONTIFEX) MA(XIMUS) GER[MANIC(US) MAX(IMUS)]

[GO]THIC(US) MA[X(IMUS) CARPIC(US) MAX(IMUS)] ?

[PAR]THIC(US) MA[X(IMUS) TRIB(UNICIA) POT(ESTATE) VI CO(N)S(UL)] ?

[III] P(ATER) P(ATRIA) PROCO(N)[S(UL) PACATOR ET RES]

[TITUT]OR ORB(IS) [REFECIT ET]

[R]ESTITUIT […]

MILIA [PASSUUM]

I[I] II ?

Translation

"The Emperor Caesar Lucius Domitian Aurelianus

Aurelian

Aurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...

, pious, fortunate, invincible, august, high priest

Pontifex Maximus

The Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post...

, greatest conqueror of the Germans, Goths, Carpi, Parthians, reinvested with the power of a Tribune

Tribune

Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...

 for the [?th] time, consul [?] times, father of his country

Pater Patriae

Pater Patriae , also seen as Parens Patriae, is a Latin honorific meaning "Father of the Country," or more literally, "Father of the Fatherland".- Roman history :...

, proconsul, restorer of universal peace, restored it: 3 [or 4] miles"

External links

• Omnes Viae: Via Agrippa on the Peutinger Map