À propos d'un nouveau milliaire de la Via Augusta, une via militaris en Bétique

Abstract

La découverte récente, près de Cordoue, d'un nouveau milliare de Domitien portant la mention Viam Augustam militarem, est l'occasion de revenir sur le tracé de cette grande voie romaine de l'Hispania et sur la position du Ianus Augustus, cet arc marquant son entrée en Bétique. Surtout, ce terme Via militaris, appliqué à la Via Augusta, oblige à reprendre le problème des Viae militares qui ont été assez diversement interprétées et qui semblent correspondre, en réalité, aux grandes routes de l'Empire Romain.

Microstratigraphic analysis of the main Roman road in Hispania: the Via Augusta where it passes through the Ianus Augustus (Mengíbar, Spain)

“…This machine consisted of an animal-drawn stone roller, which employed a heavy stone column that rolled over the gravel deposits, compacting them (González Tascón and Velázquez Soriano 2004, p. 208), and could exert the pressure enough to in situ fissure and broke the gravels and create the parallel sedimentary structure and horizontal orientation of the gravels along the many kilometres in the Via Augusta layout. The different repairs to the road observed through microfacies analysis are significant, as several repair projects carried out on the Via Augusta are documented on milestones from Hispania Baetica (Roldán Hervás 1975;Sillières 1981Sillières , 1990Sillières , 1994Corzo Sánchez and Toscano San Gil 1992;Melchor Gil 1994Schmidt 2013Schmidt , 2018Baltrusch et al 2016;España-Chamorro 2017;España Chamorro 2019). At present, some fifteen epigraphs are preserved, amongst them milestones and inscriptions documenting bridge repairs that refer to the Ianus (Sillières 1994;España-Chamorro 2017;España Chamorro 2019).…”

“…In this respect, the different repairs identified show that the road was heavily used and was therefore a very important communication hub within the road network. Although all the scholars who have studied the Roman roads in this area agree that the Via Augusta ran through the Ianus Augustus (Sillières 1981(Sillières , 1990(Sillières , 1994Corzo Sánchez and Toscano San Gil 1992;Schmidt 2013Schmidt , 2018Baltrusch et al 2016;España-Chamorro 2017;España Chamorro 2019), there is some debate within regional archaeology on the layout of the Via Augusta between Corduba and Castulo (Figs. 1 and 2).…”

“…The Via Augusta was built between 8 and 2 BC. More than 1500 km long, this via militaris of extraordinary strategic importance (Sillières 1981) runs from Gades (Cádiz, Spain) to the Pyrenees, where it connects with the Via Domitia and, ultimately, with Rome itself, as shown on the Vicarello Cups and in the Antonine Itinerary (Sillières 1990;Roldán Hervás and Caballero Casado 2014). The analysed section of the Via Augusta runs through the Ianus Augustus monumental complex (Fig.…”

“…Despite several attempts to find it using epigraphic sources (Hübner 1888;Blázquez 1914;Sillières 1981Sillières , 1994Schmidt 2018), its location was archaeologically unknown. Between 2018 and 2019, we carried out interdisciplinary research in the area proposed by the abovementioned previous studies, as the most possible location of the Ianus Augustus remains (Fig.…”

Saguntum: The Remains of an Honorary Arch and Urban Planning Outside the City Walls

“…It was erected at the end of the first century bc at the point where the Via Augusta crossed the Baetis (Guadalquivir), which is the territorial boundary between the provinces of Baetica Ulterior and Citerior. So far, it is only known from epigraphic sources (Sillières, 1981).…”