Anderitum
ANDERI´TUM a town which Ptolemaeus calls Ἀνδέρηδον, and the capital of the Gabali, whom Caesar mentions (B. G. 7.75) as subjects of the Arverni. In the Not. Prov. Gall. it is called Civitas Gabalûm, having taken the name of the people, as was the case with most of the capitals of the Gallic towns under the Lower Empire. D'Anville infers, from an inscription found in the neighbourhood of Javols or Javoux, which terminates thus, M. P. GABALL. V., that the position of Javols may represent this place. Walckenaer (Géog. &c. des Gaules) places Anderitum at Anterrieux. Others suppose the site to be at Mende. Both Javols and Mende are in the Gevaudan, a part of the mountain region of the Cevennes.
[G.L]The chief city of the Gabales, 29 km from Mende, 7 km S of Aumont and Route Nationale 9. It was on the Lyon-Toulouse road and is mentioned in the Peutinger Table. The site is at an altitude of 950 m, in a granite basin drained by the Triboulin. The ancient city lies outside the modern settlement.
Finds of gold coins and globular bowls with the inscription SITIO—CARISSIME NATE, AVIANA were noted at the end of the 18th c. During the 19th c. there were a variety of discoveries: a cippus bearing the inscription: D. M. ALBINISE—NATORIS—DOMITIA LVRVNDIA; a circular wall in a field on the right bank of the Triboulin with a milestone 2 in high in the middle of it bearing the inscription: IMP. CM CASS/ANIO LATINO POSTUMO VICTO/P F AUG—PON. MA/XI MOT P. P. COS IIII/CIVIT. CAB; a monolithic limestone tablet with PEREGRI US FECIT on one side, and coins of Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius, Domitianus, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus, Marcus Aurelius, and Claudius Gothicus. The remains of a large monument (73 x 23 m) were uncovered on the left bank of the Triboulin. It consisted of a wall surrounding small compartments, and had a floor paved with granite. Among the objects found here were fragments of a colossal statue ca. 6 in high, 73 coins, terra sigillata from Banassac, and painted ware. A badly damaged mosaic was discovered on the right bank of the river, and on the left, 14 cellas decorated with frescos. In the same sector were 43 adjacent compartments in an area covering a little less than a hectare, and a semicircular pool 3 m in diameter and 2.55 m deep. Steps led down to the water.
Excavations since 1937 have followed a wall on the left bank for 30 m, and several fragments of Corinthian capitals have been found. Some long sections of wall were located on the right bank. A rudimentary stratigraphy was noted at the NE corner of the present-day cemetery, down to the 1.8 m level, revealing broken glass, undecorated situlae, amphora sherds, bronze spatulas, needles of bone. Below that level were found Gallic coins, spindle whorls, silex strigils, and a bronze fibula. Another semicircular pool was discovered near the one found previously, and the river quays were located. They are built of large blocks of granite and extend for 90 in. The excavations have yielded over 35,000 objects, including more than 100 intact bowls. The most interesting piece was a lifesize statue of Bacchus. On his left are two casks, a small amphora, and a cornucopia; and on his right a panther with one paw on an overturned vase, and a climbing vine.
Three burned-out strata date the occupation of the site. The earliest contained the great mass of archaeological evidence and is fixed between 140 and 180 A.D. The second dates from the 3d c. The latest is Early Christian. The finds are in a storehouse on the site.
BIBLIOGRAPHYJ.J.M. Ignon, Mémoire de la Société d'Agriculture de Mende (1830) 28-31; (1831) 33; (1832) 32; (1839) 171; id., Annuaire de la Lozère (1830) 87-90; id., “Notes sur les monuments antiques du Département,” Mémoire de la Société d'Agriculture de la Lozère (1840-41) 152-75; De More, “Monnaies trouvées à Javols,” ibid. (1856) 247-48; id., “Fouilles de 1857,” ibid. (1859) 48-53; (1863) 113; id., Congreés archéologique de France, Mende 99-110, 210-14, 230; A. de Caumont, BMon (1857) 581-83; (1862) 288; Delapierre, “Fouilles 1863,” Bull. soc. d'agriculture de la Lozère (1864) 337-39; (1866) 23; Laurens, ibid. (1869) 429; (1870) 23 (bridge); Gemer-Durand, ibid. (1882) 142-46; A. Boose, “Monnaies de Javols,” ibid. (1890) 106-7; Portal, Notes historiques et statistiques de Javols (1890); A. Remize, Saint-Privat: les fouilles de Javols; F. Lot, “Recherches sur la population et la superficie des cités remontant à la période Gallo-romaine,” Bibliothèque des Hautes Études (1950); M. Balmelle, Répertoire archéologique du département de la Lozère, période Gallo-romaine; id., Précis d'histoire du Gévaudan; id., “Anderitum capitale des Gabales,” Bulletin de la Sociétédes Lettres, Sciences et Arts de la Lozère (1957) 31-35; id., “Vestiges nouvellement découvertes à Javols,” ibid. (1959) 15; C. Morel, “Compte rendu des fouilles faites a Javols en 1937 et 1950,” 86e Congrès des Sociéteés savantes à Montpellier 1961; A. Dalle, “Javols, capitale des Gabales,” Lou Païs (Feb-June 1968); Walckenaer, “Mémoire sur l'étendue et les limites des Gabali,” Nouveaux; M. Bouchard, Histoire des Fouilles de Javols; F. André “Notes sur les communes de la Lozère,” Archives departementales J. 900
Fonds. P. PEYRE