TURNACUM
(Tournai) Belgium.
A large
Gallo-Roman vicus of the civitas Menapiorum, on the
Bavai-Cassel (Castellum Menapiorum) road, where it
crosses the Scheldt. The heart of the vicus was on the
left or Menapian bank of the Scheldt, but there were
important bridgeheads on the night or Nervian bank
of the river, notably at St. Brice and at Le Luchet d'Antoing. The beginnings of the center go back to the Iron
Age. Some huts of that period, found and excavated on
the slope between the Scheldt and the hill of La Loucherie, were cabins of wattle and daub containing coarse pottery decorated with fingernail, comb, and stick impressions. Some Celtic coins found at Tournai date to
the period of the Roman conquest.
During the Roman period Tournai developed rapidly,
both because of its favorable position at the intersection of a large road and a navigable river, and because of the intensive working of limestone quarries. The limestone, exported over a radius of more than 100 km, was
used as building material and in ironworks. The growth
of the vicus dates mostly to the period of Claudius.
Probably Caligula and Claudius concentrated here the
troops intended for the invasion of Britain. A V-shaped
ditch, sectioned in 1954 and 1955, dates to Claudius and
seems to have belonged to the defenses of a temporary
camp. The building of a large part of the road network
in NW Gaul also dates to this time. The Tournai limestone was very intensively used in the construction of these roads. The first quarries worked in this period were located in the center of the modern town on the site
of the cathedral. Limekilns, several of which have been
excavated, were placed all around this pit. The kilns
were circular (4 m in diameter) and looked like a
hemispherical tub with clay walls furnished with an air
vent 40 cm wide. In the 1st c. the center was provided with
a checkerboard street plan. Under the streets conduits
were found, both for bringing fresh water (masonry
channels 30 to 35 cm wide and 35 to 90 cm high with
walls coated with red plaster) and for taking away
waste waters. The growth of the vicus also led to the
filling of the first quarry mentioned above. (Houses were
built on the fill.) The stone industry was relocated on
the outskirts of the vicus in the district of Bruyelles-Antoing. Possibly the quarries were nationalized and
put under the direction of an imperial official. The
foundations of a barrow were discovered at Antoing. Its
structure included a circular enclosing wall of carefully
fitted large stones and a dromos leading to a double
funerary chamber, recalling Roman mausoleums of
Etruscan tradition. The barrow may be the mausoleum
of an imperial official.
The vicus continued to grow at the end of the 1st c.
and during all of the 2d. The destruction of a part of
Tournai in 1940 made possible the excavation, unfortunately in rather scattered and incomplete fashion, of a
certain number of buildings of the Gallo-Roman vicus.
The dwellings of this period were characterized by the
use of very fine masonry with fine outside facings. The
interiors were enhanced by painted plastering. The paving was of cement, the roofing of imbricated tiles. A number of these dwellings were heated by hypocausts. They were provided with masonry cellars with storage
niches set in the walls. The largest edifice found to date
(52 m long) was on the summit of the hill of La Loucherie. It may have been a public building. Two large
rooms at the wings were separated by a gallery with
columns, which opened on a vast courtyard. This building was enhanced by figurative frescos and by columns whose capitals were topped by a cornice with modillions.
A dwelling excavated in 1942 had a bath building with
plunges lined with marble. Large necropoleis have been
found all around the vicus, for example, under the
modern Grand-Place (hundreds of tombs), under the
Rue de Monnel (ca. 100 tombs). Tournai was not only
an industrial center but also the commercial center for
all the surrounding region, a very fertile area with many
rich villas. The town, sacked during the invasions of
the Chauci in 172-74, rose from its ruins, but was not
very prosperous in the Severan period although some
fine artifacts (splendid jet medallions, for example) date
to that time.
The town was destroyed a second time during the
first invasions of the Franks just after the middle of the
3d c. Many hoards of coins, found at Tournai and
neighboring villages (Howardries, Beloeil, La Hamaide,
Basecles, Ellezelles, Bailleul), were buried between 258
and 268. At the end of the 3d c. Tournai was turned
into a fortress. Residential districts were leveled and
the materials from these demolitions were used to build
a rampart 2.4 m thick. It included the building of La
Loucherie, whose corners were furnished with towers
1.45 m thick. This rampart can be traced for ca. 100 m.
During the administrative reorganization under Diocletian, Tournai replaced Cassel as the caput of the civitas Menapiorum. A gynaecum (a workshop for military equipment) was installed at Tournai. The military
garrison consisted of Germanic Laeti, and their tombs
have been found in the town hall park. The grave goods
of these tombs are characterized by belt trimmings with
excised decoration with geometric and animal motifs.
In the 4th c. there still was a large civilian population
whose necropoleis have been found at Grand-Place, the
Rue Perdue, and St.-Quentin Church. In 407 the town
was ravaged again, this time by the Vandals. Shortly
thereafter it was reoccupied by the Salian Franks, who
repaired the fortifications and made Tournai the capital
of their kingdom. It was the residence of Clodion, Merovaeus (who, allied with the Romans, conquered Attila),
and Childeric, who died at Tournai in 481. His tomb,
with its very rich and famous grave goods, was found
in 1653 near the church of St.-Brice. The artifacts from
that tomb are kept at the Cabinet des Médailles in Paris.
Clovis, Childeric's son and successor, moved the capital to Paris.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
M. Amand & I. Eykens-Dierickx,
Tournai romain, Dissertationes Archaeologicae Gandenses v
(1960)
MPI; M. Amand, “Les véritables origines de Tournai,”
Helinium 3 (1963) 193-204; id., “Un nouveau
quartier romain à Tournai. Les fouilles du Luchet d'Antoign,”
Arch.Belgica 102 (1968)
PI; id., “L'approvisionnement en eau du Tournai Romain,”
Arch.Belgica 143
(1973)
PI.
S. J. DE LAET
