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The northwest segment of the perimeter wall: we describe and unroll the wall
The northwest segment of the surrounding wall, approximately 70 m long, partly corresponds to the description of this "mosaic" of which Alexandre de Laborde speaks. It is in fact made up of materials from old buildings (we call this spolia): cut blocks of different sizes, elements of the pavement, threshold, or belonging to the facing, molded blocks, seats which do not appear to belong to the theater but to other buildings. It is difficult today to recognize their origin. They come from monuments inside the city, but also from tombs that were in a necropolis on its outskirts. The excavation reveals for the first time in the layout of the enclosure the presence of a small rectangular tower (5.30 x 3.40 m) also formed of various blocks.
This reconstruction is made up of images of the different parts of the wall that we have put together to get an overview.
When was this wall built?
At the end of antiquity, it is common in the 3rd and 4th century A.D. to introduce spolia into monumental constructions. The reuse of architectural elements from old buildings responds to pragmatic and economic reasons, but also aesthetic ones since the inscriptions, the sculptures are arranged without being damaged in a visible way. This is a new construction technique. Should the choice to rebuild this rampart be linked to a context of insecurity or to a particular event (earthquake)? Future research may provide an answer.
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