v32_0831 - PROVINCIA (PROVENCE) - FORUM IULII (FREJUS) Petit bronze MATAVO au capricorne

PROVINCIA (PROVENCE) - FORUM IULII (FREJUS)

(1st century BC)

Fréjus or Forum Iulii was founded in the 1st century BC. -VS. This is an important step on the Aurelian Way. From the outset, it has had an inland port, the basin of which, laid out in a marshy area, is connected to the sea by a long canal.. A rampart protects the town. It was probably on his way to Marseilles that he was going to besiege, that Julius Caesar founded, in 49 BC. -VS. , the Forum Iulii (literally the "Forum of Jules"). Tacitus tells us that the fleet of Antony and Cleopatra was sent to the port of Fréjus after their defeat before Octave (future emperor Augustus), off Actium in 31 BC.. -VS. The port will only lose its military role in the 3rd century, which it shared with those of Misenum and Ravenna. Shortly after the victory of Actium, around 29-27 BC. -VS. , the city receives veterans of the VIII legion and receives the title of colony and becomes an important market for the artisanal and agricultural production. Under Augustus, the city changes its name to become Forum Iulii Octavanorum colonia. All the great monuments of the City (amphitheatre, aqueduct, lighthouse, thermal baths, theatre) were built under the Julio-Claudians. Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40-93), better known as Agricola was born in Fréjus. Agricola completed the conquest of the Isle of Britain (today's Britain). He is the father-in-law of Tacitus, who wrote the story of his life. Forum Julii is mentioned there briefly at the beginning, in a laudatory way, as an “ancient and illustrious colony”.