Archéologie aérienne J. Dassie aerial archaeology archeo150

The great Gallic league. J. Dassié. Page 20.

Conclusions.

This study shows the existence of the great Gallic league of an average value of about 2400 to 2500 meters in all the sources of information : ancient itinerary, digital indications of the milliary columns, land surveys on maps. This league exists and its use, very widespread, is in a majority , at least in Aquitaine-Poitou-Charentes.

Although noticed by various authors, it seems that a veilfell on this purely Gallic unit, practically banished publications of reference, even most recent. The sources of the traditional arguments in favour of the romanized mile often derive d' Ammien Marcellin and from the writings of a bishop of the VI^e century: equivalence between the thousand and the romanized leuga there are described perfectly.

It does not remain about it less than the Gallic communication network existed, than it was dense, than thecommunications were fast, which implied ways in very good state, at least for the principal axes. Precise Julian: " the campaigns of César (58-51) will show us that the large cities of Gaule were joined together by direct paths, running without interruptions through the borders of the cities " (Julian, T 2, p. 229. Bib.). It is difficult to imagine such a network without a system of evaluation of the distances and an original demarcation. It is most probably what detect the measurements of cartographic topography carried out on modern maps, highlighting series of coincidences with metric from 2,4 to 2,5 kilometers.

The following stage must appear after the conquest of Gaule. The existence of the Gallic league was to pose many problems with the Roman administration: how to express distances with units without direct relationship between them? The need for a certain rationalization was to surely be felt. The origin of the " romanized" league of 2222 meters was probably born from the political will to have a report/ratio evident, round , with the Roman mile. Two leagues for three miles, a simple reducing adaptation of the Gallic league, a non-violent assimilation... But of the government decision, born in Rome, its application to the borders of Gaule, there were... Gaule and the Gallic ones.

Could these modifications be carried out only at the time of the repairs of the imperial ways, perhaps at the time of the revision of the annone? But what did it occur in the minor roads? In the ways with load of the cities? A certain form of passive resistance would not have had surprising anything! In addition, the milliary columns are of the monuments of certain importance and the evidence of re-employment is numerous. Is it unthinkable to consider the replacement or even the re-employment of a moved Gallic terminal(or not!) and romanized by addition of a titulature, without same correcting the indications of distance?

Routes and tables, objects of so much of successive recopies, comprise, on the other hand, a great quantity of anomalies. That does not remove anything with the value of this irreplaceable information, but complicates a little the task of the analyst. The errors of copyist are frequently blamed, but these errors do not modify the advance, whose logic is relentless. It is many transcription errors of the values, having to present they also a coherent relationship with the former version.

The inscriptions of the milliary columns are most interesting, because they do not require corrections of the numerical values (at most a restitution of the missing parts), their text having generally arrived directly to us.

The topographic studies of the remanence of the demarcation of the ways bring confirmation and decisive assistance in their identification of the modules of distance and the various points.

The method of the crosswalks, including the greatGallic league , makes it possible to define the module ofdistance perfectly used, as well in the milliary epigraphy as in the texts and the routes. It is a mode of representation which facilitates the visual detection of the correlations. Applied to Itinerarium Burdigalense between Burdigala and Tolosa, this form of analysis reveals a module of about 2450meters, but also between Auch and Toulouse, a module of 2222 m (passage in Narbonnaise. Appendix Ii-3). ·

The method of the sequences of successive rays curvimetric solves many problems of localization of ancient sites · We constantly meet points corresponding very exactly to ½ mile. Was there as emi-leugaire Gallic demarcation? In corollary with there habilitation of the true Gallic mile, it would be also interesting to check if its existence had effects on metric the compartmental surrounding one.

It is a field of new investigations which opens with there cognition of this indigenous unit. These convergent methods constitute a tool likely to bring solutions complementary to the study of the ancient ways and let us apply we them in Aquitaine-Poitou-Charentes, according to the needs for our work of air archaeology. These profitable results relate to only part of our areaand it would be interesting that this form of study is generalized in all Gaules.

Some ancient ways of Aquitaine.

Preceding page Summary Return New page