Vesontio
- a city in Gallia Belgica, the chief town of the Sequani, now Besancon, Caes. B. G. 1, 38; 1, 39; Auson. Grat. 31.
VESO´NTIO(Οὐισόντιον, Ptol. 2.9.21: Besançon), in Gallia, the chief city of the Sequani. The name occurs in Dio Cassius (Dio Cass. 38.34, 63.24),> where Reimarus has written Βεσοντίωναfor the MSS. reading Οὐεσοντίωνα, without any reason. In Ausonius ( Gratiarum Act. ) the form Visontio occurs, and he speaks of a municipalis scholain the place. The orthography of the word varied, as we might expect; and other forms occur in Ammianus. D'Anville says that the name is Vesant on a milestone which bears the name of Trajan, and was found at Mandeure[EPAMANDUODURUMin which article the name is incorrectly printed Vesont].
When Caesar (B.C. 58) was marching through the country of the Sequani towards the German king Ariovistus, he heard that the German was intending to occupy Vesontio, but Caesar got there before him ( B. G. 1.38.) He describes the town as nearly surrounded by the Doubs[DUBIS], and he says that the part which was not surrounded by the river was only 600 Roman feet wide. This neck of land was filled by an eminence, the base of which on each side was washed by the river. There was a wall along. this neck of land, which made it a strong fortress, and the wall connected the heights with the town. Caesar's description is exact except as to the width of the neck of land, which D'Anville says is about 1500 Roman feet; and accordingly either Caesar was mistaken, or there is an error in his text in the numerals, which is always a possible thing. Vesontio when Caesar took it was well supplied with everything for war, and its position made it a strong place. Caesar set out from Vesontio to fight the German king, whom he defeated in the plain between the Vosgesand the Rhine. The battle-field was only 5 miles from the Rhine ( B. G. 1.53, in which passage the true reading is milia pasuum ... circiter quinque,not quinquaginta.) In the winter of B.C. 58--57 Caesar quartered his men among the Sequani, and we may assume that Vesontio was one of the places where he fixed his troops.
Vesontio has been several times sacked and destroyed by Alemanni, by Huns, and others, It is a town built on the ruins of former towns. The ground has been raised above 20 feet, and where it has been dug into, Roman remains, medals, and other antiquities have been discovered.
The modern town of Besançonconsists of two parts. The upper town, once called La Ville, is built on the peninsula, and the citadel stands on the steep rock which Caesar describes as occupying the neck of land, where the river does not flow. The lower town is on the other side of the river opposite to the peninsula, with which it is connected by a stone bridge, the foundations of which are Roman.
There is a Roman triumphal arch with a single passage. The date of its construction does not appear. This arch which was nearly hidden by rubbish and buildings has been partially uncovered and restored within the present century. It is decorated with sculptures. There are some remains of the aqueduct which supplied Vesontio with water from a distant source. It was constructed of a soft stone. It terminated in the town in a vast reservoir of an oval form, which was covered by a roof supported by columns. The water was distributed from the reservoir all through the town: and in many parts of Besançonthere have been found traces of the conduits which conveyed the water to the private houses. ( Penny Cyclopaedia, art Besançon;Richard et Hocquart, Guide du Voyageur. )
[G.L]Now Besançon; the chief town of the Sequani in Gallia Belgica, situated on the river Dubis (Doubs), which flowed around the town, with the exception of a space of 600 feet, on which stood a mountain, forming the citadel of the town. The place still has remains of a Roman aqueduct, an amph itheatre, and some other less important ruins.
At the time of the Roman conquest, Vesontio was the maximum oppidum Sequanorum. Caesar (BGall. 38.4-6) and especially Julian (Epist. 26. Bidez, 38 cd.) emphasized the strength of its position, in a bend of the Doubs and at the foot of a hill which forms a natural citadel on its landward side. After the conquest, only one historical event is known to have taken place there: the fight beneath its walls between the forces of Vindex, who had revolted against Nero, and the loyal forces of Verginius Rufus. The battle ended with the defeat and suicide of Vindex (Cass. Dio 63.24). Otherwise, the city must have shared the history of the Sequani (participation in the revolt of Sacrovir under Tiberius, loyalty during the revolt of Civilis, unrest under Marcus Aurelius). The period from the Flavians to the Antonines was its heyday, and after the Tetrarchy it was still the capital of the Provincia Maxima Sequanorum, but by 360 (cf. Julian) it was in decline.
Our knowledge of the topography of the Roman city comes from chance discoveries. The road from Italy crossed the citadel, on which during the Middle Ages four unidentified columns were still visible. It entered the lower city through the “Black Gate,” a commemorative arch built perhaps under Marcus Aurelius and still standing, which is notable for its double rows of columns and for the variety and profusion of its sculptured decoration. From that point on the road formed the principal cardo of the city. On its right, it passed the distribution basin for the water brought from the springs at Arcier by an aqueduct 10 km long, then a square surrounded by porticos with alternating round and rectangular exedrae, which probably also included an underground gallery. In the center of the square was a large temple, which some have called a capitolium. The road finally reached the river, which it crossed on a bridge which, repaired and enlarged, survived until WW II.
Only one public edifice at a distance from the cardo is known with certainty: on the W, at a spot near the river called Chamars (Campus Martius?) a semicircular double wall (exterior diam. 91.4 m), which was built on a cremation cemetery of the Julio-Claudian period. It was most probably a sacred enclosure surrounding a temple (of Mars?). It is not clear where the sanctuary of Mercury Cissonius, mentioned in an inscription, was located. Various cults (Apollo and Mercury combined, the Mother Goddesses, and the God with the Mallet) are attested by dedications or by sculptures. The remains found under the Place du Marché are probably those of large baths, and other ruins are those of private dwellings, often ornamented with mosaics and marble facing.
On the other side of the bridge the road split into three branches, to Lyon, Langres, and the Rhine. On the left of the road to Lyon was an amphitheater, built partly on level ground and partly into a hillside. Two segments of foundations remain. Later cemeteries (after the Julio-Claudian period) lay along these roads.
BIBLIOGRAPHYL. Lerat, in Histoire de Besançon (1964) 27-142 with earlier bibl. Later excavations: Gallia 22 (1964) 386-91; 24 (1966) 354-56; 26 (1968) 440-48.
L. LERAT