LANUEJOLS
Lozère, France.
A Roman settlement 18 km from Mende; a mausoleum is of particular
interest. The plan of the monument, which was completely buried, was drawn up in the 19th c. A square
structure 5.35 m on a side in the interior, it was flanked
to the N, E, and S by three niches 1.3 m deep and 2.75 m
long. The W facade contained an opening 2.57 m wide.
The lintel above this opening, 2.2 m above ground, carried an honorary inscription (
CIL XIII, 1567).
The semicircular bay over the doorway and lintel is
surmounted by an arch. The archivolt is decorated with
winged spirits, amorini, vine leaves, and bunches of
grapes. The niche opposite the entrance terminates in a
flattened arch, the archivolt of which has a design of
goblets of fruit surrounded by doves. The four corners
of the building are decorated with pilasters. Near this
monument, as the inscription indicates, is another building, badly damaged at the subfoundation level.
The recent discoveries of a limestone statue in the
neighboring village of Langlade and of a large house at
Rouffiac prove that there was an important settlement
here in the Roman period. Several inscriptions have also
been found in the village of Lanuejols: DIVUS JOVIS; D. M.
MEMEROS; IOVI OPTIMO MAXIMO.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Journal de la Lozère 745 (25 July
1813);
Mémoires de la Société de Mende (1841-42) 137-58; Tourelle, “Rapport sur le monument romain de Lanuejols,”
Congrès archéologique de France (1857) 200-8;
T. Roussel, “Notes sur le monument romain de Lanuejols,” ibid. 17-29; id.,
Bull. Soc. Lozère (1859) 27ff; de
Caument,
BMon 24 (1858) 295; id.,
REpigr 3 (1890)
39, no. 828; F. Gerner & Durant, “Note sur le monument
de Lanuejols,”
Bull. Soc. Lozère (1881) 170-74; E. Reisser,
Notice sur le tombeau romain de Lanuejols (1900);
id.,
Bull. club cévenol (1904) 281-84; Louvreleul,
Mémoire historique sur le pays du Gévaudan 112.
P. PEYRE
