AREGENUA
(Vieux) Calvados, France.
Site
of the chief city of the civitas of the Viducasses, in the
commune of the Evrecy canton on the left bank of the
Guine, a tributary of the Orne, 10 km SE of Caen. The
valley of the Guine was occupied at a very early date and
three prehistoric stations have been located: Mousterian
at the confluence of the Orne and the Guine, Robenhausian in the fields beside the Saint-Germain road, and
Chellean at La Croix des Flandriers.
Aregenua is mentioned on Ptolemy's map and in the
Peutinger Table. The ancient remains have been known
for centuries but there has been no systematic excavation.
The city, though not large, had a temple, several baths,
a theater, private houses, underground water pipes, an
aqueduct, and burial grounds on its outskirts. It was
never walled. Traces of the old city have been found
N and S of the Chemin Haussé, the ancient Roman road,
and in subfoundations in the Saint-Martin and Bas de
Vieux quarters.
On the Chemin Haussé SE of Vieux a dump was found
containing more than 40,000 kg of animal bones, piled
up with coins, potsherds, and fragments of glass and
iron. On the other side of the Chemin Haussé was the
spot where the aqueduct ended; it passed underneath the
old Château de la Palue and then down, to the SE, to
the Fontaine des Mareaux. A mosaic was found to the
left of the Chemin Haussé, but all that was left was the
mortar section that supported it. Two small border fragments, however, are in the museum of the Société des
Antiquaires in Caen; it is a mediocre work of irregular
cubes of red standstone and white dice.
Some baths were uncovered to the W, in the Champ
des Crêtes, in the mid-19th c. A first group of buildings
(62 x 30 m) had two parts: the baths, with remains of
marble facings and a semicircular, carefully paved pool
with three steps leading into it, then a rectangular courtyard terminating in a semicircular wall that served as a
palestra. A huge bowling ball of micaceous quartz was
found in it. The second group (29.45 x 6.50 m) contained two circular pools surrounded by several small
narrow rooms, along with a drainage pipe going down
to the Guine, and a large paved room. Later another
series of rooms was found, with some hypocausts and
heating pipes in the walls.
To the NE of the Champ des Crêes, near the Chemin
Haussé, were found traces of cement floors and subfoundations of ancient houses; one room had a hypocaust. To the right of the Chemin Haussé beneath the
choir of the Eglise Notre-Dame were found what may
be the remains of a temple along with some sculptures.
A corner capital was discovered amid the debris, as well
as a stone decorated with two badly damaged bas-reliefs.
The site of a large monument oriented S has been
recognized in the garden of the Château La Palue; the
ruins have not yet been identified. To the E, in the Jardin
Poulain, are the foundations of the theater. The site is
inclined slightly NE-SW and dominates the surrounding
area. The tiers faced SW. Masonry has been found below ground at depths ranging from 0.2 to 1.5 m. Excavation was carried out down to the 2 m level, the usual depth of the wall bases, which were set on a mortar floor
0.4 m thick. The stage, orchestra, and hemicycle of tiers
were uncovered. Three corridors, to the right and left of
the stage and in the middle of the hemicycle, led to the
orchestra. The vertical sections were probably built largely of wood. The monument measured 236 m around, 80
m at its widest point and 67 m at the narrowest. The stage
was 60 by 18 m, the orchestra was oval, 30-35 m in diameter, and the podium gallery was 55 m in circumference
and 5 m wide. The tiers were raised 20 m high and measured 80 m around; the theater could seat 3500. The walls
of the orchestra formed a complete circle, so that the
theater could serve as an amphitheater and the orchestra
as an arena. A study of the masonry, however, has shown
that the Vieux theater was not originally built for a double purpose: the S semicircular wall of the orchestra-arena is not nearly as well built as the right rear wall,
which it joins; it may be a later addition. Two more
peculiarities have been noted: the inner wall of the circular gallery at the top of the hemicycle is 2.2 m thick for
22 m to the E, but not more than 0.9 m thick everywhere
else. There may have been a box at this point. Also, six
semicircles of stone, 0.75 m thick and well built on both
sides, are supported by the S end of the E wall. These
structures have not been identified.
In the Saint-Martin quarter N of the village, on Le
Grand Champ, some column stumps have been excavated, along with several fragments of Corinthian friezes,
and a rectangular building 13 by 9 m. Its function has
not been determined.
The city was destroyed at the end of the 3d c., probably by Saxon pirates; the proximity of the Orne probably
facilitated these raids. A few families may have gone on
living in the ruins, judging from the 4th and 5th c. coins
found on the site. Some Merovingian tombs found in
eight places seem to represent burials of a later period
(end of the 7th and 8th c.), but at present it is not known
whether or not the city was abandoned from the 5th to
the 7th c.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“Fouilles de lintendant Foucault,”
MémAcInscr 1 (1717) 290-94;
Mercure de France, June
1730; A. Charma,
Rapport sur les fouilles de Vieux,
1852-1854, Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de
Normandie 20 (1853) 458-85; M. Besnier, “Histoire des
fouilles de Vieux,” ibid. (1909) 225-335, or
MAntFr 69
(1910) 225; Doranlo, “Sur la destruction d'Aregenua,”
Bulletin de la Société Antiquaires de Normandie 38
(1928-29) 472-75.
C. PILET
