La maison de la Harpiste et son décor à Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône) : nouvelles données sur l’occupation tardo-républicaine d’Arelate

Abstract

Several years ago our knowledge on the Roman town of Arles/Arelate during the late Republican period was still limited to selective observations. Since 2013 the excavations carried out on the site of La Verrerie, situated on the right bank of the river Rhône, completely changed the issue concerning the urban plan and about the transition from the Protohistoric town to the Roman ruled colony set up in 46 or 45 BC, but also the question raised by the import of Italic know-how in Gaul, detected through the plan, architecture and decoration of a house dated to the first half of the 1st c. BC. The diversity and exceptional quality of the decorative ornaments of this house give a new insight into the knowledge of late Republican decorative modes: wall painting of the second Pompeian style, stucco and pavements.