Archaeoastronomy in ancient Helvetia: the Theater, the ...

[Pages:23]Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Technologies 2019, 7(1), 1?23; DOI: 10.24411/2310-2144-2019-10001

ISSN 2310-2144

Archaeoastronomy in ancient Helvetia: the Theater, the Temple and the city of Aventicum

(Avenches)

Marina De Franceschini1, Giuseppe Veneziano2

1 Independent researcher in collaboration with Astronomical Observatory of Genoa, Via Superiore Gazzo, Genova, GE 16153, ALSSA, Italy; E-Mail: mdfmdf28@

2 Astronomical Observatory of Genoa, Via Superiore Gazzo, Genova, GE 16153, ALSSA, Italy; E-Mail: vene59@libero.it Abstract

This article presents our discovery of the astronomical orientation of the city of Aventicum, the capital of ancient Roman Helvetia, where the sacred complex formed by the Temple of the Cigognier and the Theater were oriented along the axis that links the sunset of the Summer Solstice and the sunrise of the Winter Solstice. Also the East and West doors of the city were astronomically oriented on the axis that links the sunrise of the Summer Solstice and the sunset of the Winter Solstice.

On July 13th, 2017 I had the fortune to visit two extraordinary Roman sites in Switzerland, Avenches and Vallon, together with friend Cristiano Castelletti, a great scholar as well as an excellent journalist of the Swiss-Italian Radio. This article is dedicated to his memory, because unfortunately Cristiano passed away in 2017, leaving a great void for us all.

Keywords: Archaeoastronomy, ancient Roman religion, Roman Calendar, Helvetia, Roman Architecture, Avenches or Aventicum, Roman Gaul.

1. - A brief history of Aventicum

Julius Caesar defeated the Helvetii in 58 BC at Bibracte, and the conquest of the ancient Helvetia was completed by Drusus and then by Tiberius (de Pury-Gysel,

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2011, pp. 8 and 16; Castella, 2015, pp. 9-13). The construction of the city of Aventicum, also known as Forum Tiberii, began in 5-6 AD (de Pury-Gysel, 2011, p. 16). Tacitus called it the capital of the Helvetii (Tac., Hist. 1.68.6). At first it belonged to the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis, then to the Gallia Belgica, as its administrative center; the military one was in Vindonissa, todays Windisch, near Zurich (de Pury-Gysel 2011, pp. 9 and 12). The part of Gaul conquered by Julius Caesar was named Gallia Comata, with capital Lugdunum, todays Lyon; at the time of Augustus it was divided into the three provinces of Aquitania, Lugdunensis and Belgica (Sear 2006, p. 98). No material traces of pre-Roman settlements have been found, only burials and materials of La T?ne culture, datable between the second century BC and 40 BC (de Pury-Gysel, 2011, pp. 9-12).

Figure 1. The Roman Helvetia in the Aventicum area: with the roads and the boundaries of the various provinces (from Wikipedia, Marco Zanoli1).

The site was chosen for its strategic location close to Lake Morat (fig. 1), connected to a fluvial and lacustrine network which reached the North Sea (de Pury-Gysel, 2011, p. 13). Fluvial and maritime transport was in fact preferred to

1 accessed on February 6th, 2019.

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land transport, because it was faster, cheaper and more efficient; it is also likely that the Roman roads followed the route of pre-existing Celtic roads.

Since there are no written sources, the date of the different building phases of the city is based on the archaeological finds and in particular on dendrochronology, because the area was marshy and all the buildings rested on wooden piling. In the storerooms of the Museum of Avenches there is an incredible quantity of such wooden poles, perfectly preserved thanks to the chemical characteristics of the soil.

The first building phase of the city dates back to 6-7 AD, while its road grid is of the Tiberian period: it is angled 45? from the east-west axis, and had a series of regular insulae (probably 36 or 42 in number), with a Forum, a sacred area, a Basilica and a Curia, and a nearby thermal building (de Pury-Gysel, 2011, pp. 9, 13, 16, 27; Castella, 2015, pp. 9-13). A series of statues portraying members of Julio-Claudian imperial family proves the presence of the Imperial cult in the city: Agrippina major portrayed as Fortune, the Divus Augustus, Claudia Livilla and Drusus minor, whom Tiberius originally designated as his successor. It is thought that the statues were made after the Senatus Consultum of 19 AD, passed after the death of Germanicus, which ordered the erection of monuments in honor of the deceased members of the dynasty, who were granted the Imperial cult (de PuryGysel, 2011, p. 27).

The year 69 AD ? with the dispute between Galba, Otho and Vitellius for the succession to emperor Nero ? was a critical moment in the history of Aventicum, because it sided with Galba, while the Roman army of the Rhine (Legio XXI Rapax of Vindonissa) sided with Vitellius. After the Roman victory of B?zberg, the whole area was sacked and the small settlements and the villages were razed to the ground. Aventicum avoided the destruction offering its surrender, and after that some of the members of the ruling class of the city remained celts, an example of local aristocracy associated with the imperial power (Castella, 2015, pp. 9-13).

Emperor Vespasian (69-79 AD) was a great benefactor of the city, perhaps because his father lived there together with his nephew and future emperor Titus; Suetonius refers that Flavius Sabinus ? the father of Vespasian ? had been a banker

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in Aventicum (Castella, 2015, p. 31). In 71-72 AD Aventicum became Colonia Pia Flavia Constans Emerita Helvetiorum Foederata, and under Domitian it passed to the province of Germania Superior (de Pury-Gysel, 2011, pp. 16 and 39-40; Castella, 2015, pp. 9-13). In that period great public works were started: first of all the city walls were built, with 73 watch towers and a moat. Then a new thermal plant was built near the Forum, and an ambitious building project was set up: the construction of the new sacred complex formed by the Temple of the Cigognier and the Theater, the construction of the temple of Grange de D?mes and of the palace (or temple?) called Derriere la Tour, and finally the construction of the great Amphitheater (de Pury-Gysel, 2011, p. 38; Castella, 2015, p. 47). All these buildings were completed during the reign of Trajan. In the hadrianic period a navigable waterway was dug, to connect the city to the Lake of Morat. Several private houses were enriched with new thermal plants and luxury decoration, evidence of the prosperity of the city (fig. 2).

Figure 2. Plan of the sacred area of Aventicum. The Temple of Cigognier (1) and the Theater (2) are aligned along the same axis. The Temple-Theater complex suggests that sacred processions and representations took place there. Not far away is the Amphitheater (7) and the temples of Grange des D?mes (5) and Derri?re La Tour (6) (Castella, 2015, fig. 60).

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Unfortunately the decadence of Aventicum began in 275 AD, with the sacking of the Alamanni; in the VI century AD the city was definitively abandoned. The new medieval town was built higher up on the hill located west of the ancient Roman city, since a town on a hill is better defensible; and probably because the lowland area had once again become marshy due to the lack of adequate maintenance of the Roman water and sewage system.

2. - The astronomical orientation of the Temple/Theater complex

As mentioned above, at the end of the first century AD a new monumental complex was built in the south-eastern part of the city, consisting of the Temple of the Cigognier and the Theater. One of the authors of this article, Marina De Franceschini, visited the archaeological area with Cristiano Castelletti and MarieFrance Meylan Krause ? director of the small but beautiful Museum of Avenches, located in a medieval tower built with stones coming from the amphitheater and other Roman buildings. They explained that the two buildings were aligned along the same axis, and that ritual processions were probably going from one to the other. Marina De Franceschini recalled that often the sanctuaries of Isis were located near a theater which was the point of arrival of the processions, and sacred ritual representations in honor of the goddess were performed there (Beaurin, 2013, pp. 34-35 and 76). Then she wondered if the two buildings of Avenches were astronomically oriented (fig. 2).

2.1 - The Temple of the Cigognier

Its plan is very similar to that of the Templum Pacis at Rome, built by Vespasian to celebrate the return of peace after the turbulent years of the succession of Nero. (fig. 3). For this reason it is generally believed that the project was designed during the reign of Vespasian, but that the construction began during the reign of Titus and ended under Domitian or Trajan, since the wooden poles of the foundations date back to 98 AD (B?gli, 2001, pp. 21-29; de Pury-Gysel, 2012, p. 259; Castella, 2015, p. 58).

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Figure 3. Plan of the Temple of Cigognier compared to the Templum Pacis2 of Rome, built by the Emperor Vespasian (from B?gli, 2001, fig. 22).

The building had a large squared courtyard surrounded by a portico, in the center of which stood the monumental fa?ade of the Temple, preceded by a paved walkway (fig. 4).

Figure 4. Reconstruction of the Temple of Cigognier with the large portico and paved walkway. The star indicates the position of the only surviving column (Castella, 2015, fig. 77).

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Today only one corner column of the pediment remains, on top of which once nested the storks (cigognes in French), hence the name "Cigognier" (fig. 5).

Figure 5. Temple of Cigognier, aerial view: the star indicates the only remaining column, with part of the podium and in front of the paved walkway in axis with the Theater (Castella, 2015, fig. 26).

We do not know the name of the gods to whom the temple was dedicated, and there is no evidence (sculptures or other finds) to identify them. Only an inscription with dedication to a local deity very important for the Helvetii ? Mars Caturix ? has been found; but scholars believe that the temple was not dedicated to him but to the Imperial cult, as was also hypothesized for the Templum Pacis of Rome (B?gli, 2001, p. 29; de Pury-Gysel, 2012, p. 265). In Gaul several theaters were connected to sanctuaries dedicated to the Imperial cult, as at N?mes, Arles and St. Remy; they were built for ceremonies and rituals which were quite different from those of Italy or of the Gallia Narbonensis (Sear, 2006, pp. 98, 96).

2.2 - The Theater

Built together with the Temple of the Cigognier, it was almost completely destroyed because its stones were stolen and re-used as a building material until the end of the nineteenth century (fig. 6). The steps of the cavea were almost

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completely removed, but part of the orchestra is still in place, and at its center there is a small shrine (Sear, 2006, pp. 216-217).

Figure 6. View of the theater with the cavea, the orchestra and the scaena frons. In the background the only standing column of the Temple of Cigognier, indicated by the asterisk3.

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