The archaeological site of Alba-la-Romaine, corresponding to the Gallo-Roman city of Alba Augusta Helviorum or Alba Helviorum ("Alba of the Helvii") is located near the present town of Alba-la-Romaine. The site is in the French department of Ardèche, Rhône-Alpes. During the Roman Imperial era, Alba was the capital of the Celtic-speaking polity of Helvii, which had territory covering the area of lower Vivarais.
History
A settlement is likely to have existed at the site of Alba before the civitas of the Helvii came under Roman rule, and there are indications of an early oppidum near the Chaulène plateau, northwest of Alba. The excavations west of the site ("Saint-Pierre") comes with lithic debris from the end of the third millennium. At the site of two "domus" south-east of the site ("home field Delauzun"), a habitat La Tène III (first century) also was revealed by the discovery of imported ceramics, as well as collars, handles, or lips of wine amphoras, and Italy and Allobrogian currency, issued before the third quarter of the first century. Other oppida are known in the territory of Helvii, such as at Jastres North. Their neighbors to the north were the Segusiavi, to the west the Vellavi and Gabali, and to the south the Volcae Arecomici.
In 121 BC, the Arverni, a Celtic people from the Auvergne, were defeated by the Roman consul Fabius Maximus. Their king, Bituitos, was taken to Rome and paraded in a Roman triumph. Fabius Maximus managed to dissociate the Helvii and Allobroges from the Arverni, and drew them instead into an alliance with Rome. In 83 BC, the leader of the Helvii was granted Roman citizenship by the proconsul Gaius Valerius Flaccus, and incorporated his patron's name into his own, becoming Gaius Valerius Caburus. One of his two sons, Gaius Valerius Troucillus, was highly regarded by Caesar, and employed by him as an interpreter and diplomatic liaison during the Gallic Wars. In 52 BC, the Helvii held the border of the Roman province against an invasion of forces sent by Vercingetorix. Subsequently, Alba adopted privilege of Roman law.
Attached first to the Gaul aquitaine at Strabo, the site was integrated into the Narbonnaise. "The starting point of Roman roads to Valencia, Lyon and Vienna by the bank of the Rhone, on the other hand to Bourg-Saint-Andéol and Narbonne, finally to Gergovie – excluding roads; center an agricultural region and especially viticulture centre of regional trade, Gaul, and even imperial (...), Alba is from the first century a major city", says Marcel Le Glay.
Christianity came to the region at the end of the first century, though the time the first episcopal see of the region was established is uncertain. After its decline and abandonment, probably at the end of the third century, the city was abandoned in the middle of the fourth century in favor of Viviers.
Against the wall of the Jewish cemetery in the northern district of Bonn, Germany is a relief of the gravestone of the first known inhabitants of Bonn. The tombstone inscription, translated from Latin, means:
The ancient city, not counting its enclosure, spans thirty hectares and was bounded by the necropolis of Saint-Martin (first to second century AD) to the southeast and Saint-Pierre (second to fourth centuries AD) to the west. Its perimeter is estimated at four kilometres. No reliable estimation of the city's population is available.
Archeology
North ward
The area that is now called Bagnols contains the first traces of settlement on the plain of Alba. The ancient city is part of the area and then spread to the place called the Palace of around monumental center.
North of the ancient city, as the city grows, is Gallo-Roman popular housing and a commercial property. From the first century AD, allegiance Helviens to the Emperor and complete integration into the Roman Empire is evidenced in the site. In 1992, a statue of a deified emperor was found. The site of the statue is connected to the center of the city by a monumental processional route. However, traces of abandonment and reuse of stones of the sanctuary are in evidence from the third century, an early sign of the abandonment of Roman ideals and living.
Monumental forum
On a forum dated to the second century, located at the top of the monumental center of the city, there was discovered a sarcophagus. On it are enumerated four drapers (centonarii), construction workers ( manufacturer ), Utricularia (utriclarii ) and suppliers of wooden constructions (dendrophori) all of which seem related to the wine trade. The forum rests today in the vineyard, and has been identified through surveys during excavations.