https://ancientrome.org/tags/gaul/ Recent content in Gaul on Ancient Rome Hugo en-us Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://ancientrome.org/ausonius-the-roman-poet-behind-saint-%C3%A9milions-most-famous-wine/ Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://ancientrome.org/ausonius-the-roman-poet-behind-saint-%C3%A9milions-most-famous-wine/ <p>Almost nothing in this view of Saint-Émilion is Roman. The bell tower stands over a church that medieval monks hollowed out of the limestone, the houses are honey-coloured stone pulled from quarries under the town, and the rock face on the left still has doorways cut straight into it. The oldest thing in the frame is the habit of planting grapes on this hill. Bordeaux likes to credit that habit to one man. He was a fourth-century schoolteacher who ended up a consul.</p> https://ancientrome.org/the-pont-du-gard-romes-most-perfect-structure/ Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://ancientrome.org/the-pont-du-gard-romes-most-perfect-structure/ <p>There is a moment, approaching the Pont du Gard from the riverbank below, when the structure stops looking ancient and starts looking inevitable. Three tiers of limestone arches rising 49 meters above the Gardon river in southern France, built without mortar, without iron clamps, without any binding agent beyond the weight of precisely cut stone on stone. It was constructed around 50 CE to carry water 50 kilometers from springs near Uzès to the Roman colony of Nemausus — modern Nîmes. It has been standing for nearly two thousand years. It looks like it intends to stand for two thousand more.</p>