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Origin and history

The Via Domitia, built from 118 B.C. under the impulse of proconsul Cneus Domitius Ahenobarbus, was the first Roman road in Gaul. Its objective: to connect Italy to the Iberian peninsula via the Narbonnaise Gaul, facilitating military, commercial and administrative movements. The way crossed key cities such as Narbonne (Narbo Martius), founded in -118 as a Roman colony, and Nîmes (Nemaususus), where remains such as the Augustus gate remain.

The section of Jonquières-Saint-Vincent, shared with the communes of Redessan, Beaucaire (Gard) and Castelnau-le-Lez (Hérault), follows a route still visible in places. The track was punctuated by miles, some of which bear imperial inscriptions (e.g.: Point IX known as Peire di Novi, dedicated to Tiberius). These mileage marks were used by travellers, legions and merchants in a network connected to other routes such as Via Agrippa or Via Julia Augusta.

The construction was based on Roman techniques: stratified layers of gravel and pebbles, paving in the city, and straight lines outside of agglomerations. After the fall of Rome, some sections were reused in the Middle Ages as Strata francesa. The Ambroix Bridge (on the Vidourle) or the Ambrussum Bridge (with a paved section) have been among the remains protected as historical monuments since the 1980s.

The Via Domitia also symbolizes the economic integration of the region: it boosted the exchanges between cities (ceramics, wines, amphoras) and structured the territory, as evidenced by the river ports (e.g.: crossing the Rhône between Tarascon and Beaucaire). Its legacy persists in toponymy (colleges, universities) and modern roads (A9, N100), inheritors of its route.

In Occitanie, the route crossed varied landscapes, from the Alps (col de Montgenèvre) to the Languedoc plains, through strategic sites such as Glanum (Saint-Rémy-de-Provence) or Salses, where a castrum controlled the flows. Archaeological excavations (e.g. section exhumed in Loupian in 2022) continue to enrich the knowledge of its use and evolution.

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