La réutilisation des espaces publics à Arles : un témoignage de la fin de l'Antiquité

Several sites excavated recently both inside and outside the city walls of Arles show evidence of reuse and reoccupation during the late Empire. Encroachments of these kinds appear at the end of the 4th and during the 5th century in public areas such as squares, places of entertainment and even the Augustan forum. The author presents the results of excavations in the "Van-Gogh Hospital" and the "City Hall" as well as a detailed discussion of research conducted in the "Roman Circus", where little houses were constructed around the building's perimeter, even using the vaulted chambers under the seating. Both the date of these parasitic structures and the squatters' need to have official permission to occupy public spaces suggest that Arles experienced a significant increase in population when the administrative and political capital of Gaul was moved from Trier to ArIes sometime between A. D. 394 and 408. [Author, trad. D. Parrish]