AQUIS CALIDIS
(Vichy) Allier, France.
Roman baths mentioned in the
Peutinger Table. No visible
traces remain except for a well faced with marble, which
is badly damaged. Marble architectural fragments have
been found, and the necropolis, with the stele of a soldier of Cohors XVII Lugdunensis. A milestone of A.D.
248-49 has also been found.
Excavation has revealed a number of ancient sculptures and bronzes, including 10 statuettes in bronze, 25
cm high, of Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury; a seated Dionysos (31 cm high), Minerva, a dancing girl, a Hellenistic bronze of a woman drinking water and another
representing the Labors of Hercules, two bronze circlets
(2.5 kg), one with the dedication MARTI VOROCCIO, the
other to Diana. Native gods are represented by a crouching god and a god with a mallet, Oriental divinities by
80 thin slabs of silver dedicated to Jupiter Sabazius, made
by a Gaul called Carassounos.
Evidence of industrial activity is provided by bronze
founders' molds, forging material, and coin molds, but
the most important industry was that of the potters, several of whose workshops have been located. They turned
out terra sigillata, both molded and plain, and clay figurines (Venus, mother goddesses, animals; noteworthy
is a torso of Apollo), as well as lead-glaze bowls, others
slip-decorated or mica-coated, and coarse and fine
wares. Most of the evidence dates the work from the
period of the Flavians to the end of the 2d c.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grenier,
Manuel IV:2, 435-42
PI.
H. VERTET
