CONDATE
or Civitas Riedonum (Rennes) Ille et Vilaine, France.
The chief city of the Riedones
tribe, Condate was situated on a hillside near the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. That the town and
its monuments flourished throughout the Pax Romana
is evident from the stone inscriptions frequently found
in the substratum of the modern city.
Towards the end of the 3d c. A.D. the center of Condate was ringed with a fortified circuit wall of the classic
type (coarse rubblework faced on either side with small
blocks and banded with brick). The foundations of this
wall contain many reused architectural fragments, such
as the statue bases with inscriptions recently found when
a section of the rampart was uncovered. The Cabinet des
Médailles et Antiques of the Bibliothèque Nationale in
Paris has a very fine solid gold patera with a Bacchic
design, found at Rennes in 1774. Its inner circumference
contains 16 2d c. aurei set in filigree medallions. Other
objects found in the excavations can be seen in the
Rennes Musée Archéologique.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. Toulmouche,
Histoire Archéologique
de l'époque Gallo-romaine de Ia ville de Rennes (1847);
M. Petit, “La céramique italique de Rennes,”
Annales de
Bretagne 78, 1 (1971); J. Bousquet, “Les inscriptions de
Rennes,”
Gallia 29, 1 (1971).
M. PETIT
