Athena Review Image Archive ™
Frejus: The Roman Military Port
Location of Frejus on the Mediterranean coast (Athena Review Image Archive)
Frejus (Forum Julii), located on the Mediterranean about 100 miles (160 km) east of Arles and the mouth of the Rhone River, began as a colonia founded in 50 BC by Julius Caesar for veterans of his 8th Legion who had served in the Gaul campaigns. Soon, however, as reported by Tacitus in Agricola, the colony of Forum Julii became a military naval base at a harbor begun by Caesar in 49 BC after the conquest of Massalia (Marseilles). The seventeen hectare harbor (now silted in) was artificial, dredged from a pre-existing swamp, and connected to the sea by a canal.
By
31 BC Octavian transferred to Frejus the fleet he captured from Anthony and
Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium.
In 1986 portions of docks (now under a parking lot) were discovered by
the Porte Dorée, a 2nd century AD structure which also contains
remains of the frigidarium of the Roman bath. Also associated with the
port was a barracks block in which was found local military issue
coinage from the 20's BC, and Italian pottery showing occupation up to
AD 69. At this point, Misenum in Italy, near Naples, became the primary Roman Naval
base, replacing Forum Julii.
The Roman town itself comprised almost 40 hectares
surrounded by a two mile diameter wall some 2.5 m thick. Fresh water was
brought by a large aqueduct to Forum Julii from hills some 40 km to the
northeast. A row of mammoth
stone piers from the aqueduct can be seen upon entering the city near
the Porte de Rome. Also found in Frejus are remains of a Roman theater and amphitheater. Artifacts
related to the naval base at Frejus and Roman amphorae from shipwrecks
may be seen at the museum at nearby Saint Raphael.
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