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Augustomagus (Roman Senlis), capital
of the prosperous Roman civitas of Silvanectium, was located at the
intersection of three major roads leading to Paris,  Britanny, and the Rhine
frontier. Fortified walls enclosing the city were built during 3rd century
Frankish invasions. Measuring
840 m in circumference and nearly 7 m in height, the wall was comparable
to the still larger ones of Beauvais (10 m), Soissons (12 m), and Amiens
(20 m). The wall at Senlis (figs.1,2) originally contained twenty-six towers,
fifteen of which are extant today, as well as two gates (porte de Paris and
porte de Reims) allowing entry into the city.
Fig.1: Gallo Roman Wall at Senlis (photo: Athena
Review).
While defensive walls were constructed at dozens of Gallo-Roman cities during
this era, the walls at Senlis (figs.1,2) were remarkably
long
lived, remaining in use for a millennium, and modified and repaired through
the 13th century. Built in only two years due to a state of emergency, the
wall was made of cut stones taken from some of the to wn's civic and religious
buildings. Evidence for this reuse of 2nd and 3rd century building materials
has been discovered in the basement of the old Episcopal Palace (now the
city museum). Wall foundations consisted of three or four layers of recycled
stones such as old columns, cornices, and capitals. Parts of monuments containing
bas-relief sculptures were placed on the interior side of the wall, so that
they could not be viewed unless purposely extracted from the wall. The bricks
or stones were arranged rather haphazardly in both the laying of the foundation
as well as the interior side of the wall known as opus caementicium.
The exterior, on the other hand, consisted of small carefully arranged bricks
sealed with cement known as opus vittatum.
Fig.2: Plan of the Roman wall and major monuments
of Senlis (after: Office de Tourisme de Senlis).
Subsequent centuries saw repeated restoration
and modifications of the Senlis wall. During the Carolingian era, arched
windows in the towers (four on the first level and three on the second) were
a standard technique. The solid construction of the walls afforded protection
to Senlis in the High Middle Ages against Norman invasions. The walls remained
intact through the Capetian era (987-1328), and linked all the important
monuments in the center of the city such as the royal palace, cathedral,
chapter house, and bishop's palace (fig.2).
References: .
Bedon, R., P. Pinon, and R. Chevalier. 1988. Architecture et Urbanisme
en Gaule Romain, Tome 2. Paris, Éditions Errance.
Vermand D. 1992. La Muraille Gallo-Romaine. Senlis, Patrimoine
Senlisen.
This article appears on page 61 of Vol.4 No.2 of Athena
Review. .
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