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After Van Gogh, the next biggest attraction for the visitor are the Roman remains.
The Arena, or Amphitheatre, is the chief place of interest, and rightly so. It is truly impressive, a statement in stone of the Roman Empire's feelings about its own permanence. In size, the Arena is about twentieth of those that survive, being 450ft (137m) along the long side of its oval, 350ft (107m) across the short side. When completed, it is estimated that it could have seated over 25,000 spectators who filed in to watch the full range of events and contests that the Roman citizen felt was his due.
The Arena was erected in the first century AD, though there was probably an earlier wooden one on the same site. That would have dated from around the first century BC, the same time that the Theatre was built. The Theatre, built when Augustus was emperor, was sumptuously decorated with statues and marble facings, and was designed to hold about 7,000 people. Sadly, it was badly damaged in medieval times and only some columns and seating now remain.
Constantine's Palace, which is actually the public baths and occasionally known as the Trouille Baths, is much later, dating from the fourth century, the time of Constantine the Great. The water to supply the baths was brought by aqueduct from Eygalières, 15.5 miles (25km) away.
Bullfighting
Below the walls of the Arena, the visitor can still see the caged areas where animals would have been kept before they went to the arena to kill or be killed.
Today it is bulls that are led to the Arena. Usually, the events here and at nearby Nîmes are Provençal, the nimble bulls of the Camargue being used. In this event, the bull has a rosette attached to its forehead and is put in the ring with several rasetteurs, each dressed in his uniform of white shirt and trousers, who try to remove the rosette while preserving life and limb. The bull is never harmed, though the same cannot be said of the rasetteurs, many of whom have been severely gored. The event raises ethical questions in the minds of all animal lovers, but at least in Provençal bull-fighting there is no final killing.
However, bullfights of the Spanish variety are also held both at Arles and Nîmes. These involve a larger, more dangerous bull that is killed at the end of the contest, either by the matador or by ring men. |
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