La dure condition des agglomérations secondaires

Abstract

The grouped settlement remains an unidentified object in Gallo-Roman archeology and the history of rural Gaul. The agglomeration, which, in the literal sense of the term, refers to a grouped settlement, is too often limited to urban areas only, distinguished between capitals of cities and « secondary » agglomerations. Far from enumerating all the forms of group housing, from towns to hamlets in passing by villages and towns, secondary agglomerations are reduced to urban centers. The misuse of the Latin word vicus, beyond its institutional, specifically Roman use, has complicated the approach to agglomerations by dismissing non-urban forms. We must return to a denotative vocabulary, that of geographers, and refine the archaeological characterization of all forms of the Gallo-Roman grouped settlement.

Keywords

• agglomération
• grouped settlement
• roman Gaul
• vicus