OROLAUNUM
(Arlon) Belgium.
A large
vicus of the civitas Treverorum, at the intersection of the
Reims-Trier and Tongres-Metz roads. The name is mentioned in the
Antonine Itinerary and in an inscription
found in 1936. The two roads crossed near the source
of the Semois, at the foot of the hill of St. Donat (an
ancient oppidum of the Iron Age?). The center of
the built-up area must have been located at that spot.
The most important finds of the period of the Early Empire include a rectangular building near the Wolkrange
road, examined in 1840. Bases of columns and a capital
in Differdange stone were found there. Another building,
elongated in plan, was found at the beginning of the
century at the Chemin des Vaches. Finally, the remains
of a large bath building, perhaps of religious character,
was excavated in 1907 near the source of the Semois.
The complex (14 x 12 m) was divided into four rooms,
one of them above a hypocaust. It was attached to a
pool (3.4 x 4.5 m). An industrial district with lime
kilns and potter's kilns was located on the outskirts of
the built-up area. The main necropolis of the Early Empire was located at the Hohgericht, where hundreds of
tombs (the oldest of which seem to date to the time of
Augustus) were pillaged by private collectors. Apparently the vicus was ravaged during one of the barbarian
invasions of the second half of the 3d c. At the end of
the 3d c. or beginning of the 4th, a keep was built on
the hill of St. Donat. A rampart was built halfway up
the hill, forming an oval (ca. 300 x 250 m) with a
perimeter of ca. 1 km. The wall, 4 m thick, has massive semicircular towers on the inside as breastworks.
A large number of sculpted stones from the funerary
monuments of the necropoleis of the Early Empire were
used in the foundations. The funerary monuments found
in the wall form the finest collection of ancient sculpture found in Belgium, comparable to the discoveries at
Buzenol, Trier, and Neumagen. (A few are visible in
situ; the rest are at the museum in Arlon.) The sculptors very often reproduced scenes of daily life, as well
as mythological and symbolic subjects. The building of
the enceinte did not, however, lead to the complete
abandonment of the ancient site of the vicus. The bath
building at the source of the Semois was restored. Near
these baths a small Christian sanctuary, basilican in plan,
was built during the 4th c. It is to date the only Early
Christian church found in Belgium.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
J. Sibenaler, “Les thermes d'Arlon,”
Annales de l'Institut arch. du Luxembourg 42 (1907)
253-61; R. De Maeyer,
De Overblijfselen der Romeinsche
Villa's in België (1940) 173-74; H. Van de Weerd,
Inleiding tot de Gallo-Romeinsche Archeologie der Nederlanden (1944) 48-49, 75-76; M. E. Mariën, “Les monuments funéraires de l'Arlon romain,”
Annales de l'Inst. arch. du Luxembourg 76 (1945); C. Dubois, “Orolaunum. Bibliographie et Documents sur l'Arlon romain,”
Annales de l'Inst. arch. du Luxembourg 78 (1946); S. J.
De Laet, “La Gaule septentrionale à l'époque romaine,”
Bull. Inst. hist. belge de Rome 26 (1950-51) 211-12,
215-16; A. Bergtrang,
Histoire d'Arlon (2d ed. 1953);
J. Breuer, “Le sous-sol archéologique et les remparts
d'Arlon,”
Parcs Nationaux 8 (1953) 98-102
MI; J. Mertens, “Le Luxembourg méridional au Bas-Empire,”
Mémorial A. Bertrang (1964) 191-201; id., “Nouvelles
sculptures romaines d'Arlon,”
Studia hellenistica 16
(1967) 147-60.
S. J. DE LAET
