Steve Immel Photography: Little Rome


Place de la Republique

Arles has been referred to as “Rome in Gaul” because of the forum, amphitheatre, theatre antique and crypto portico built by its Roman conquerors in about 90 BC. The first ever life mask of Julius Caesar has been found in the Rhone River within the last two years. It was Caesar that gave Arles to veterans of his legions with the understanding that they would honor him by creating a replica of Rome as was done in Nimes and Orange among others. The amphitheatre, the 21^st largest of the Roman arenas, is an engineering marvel that seats 20,000 while the nearby theatre seats over 10,000. The Museum of Ancient Arles displays artifacts from prehistory to 500 AD while the Reattu shows Picasso, Zadkine and Alechinscky and contemporary artists.