Archaeological finds from Julia Apta Vulgientium in the Museum of History and Archaeology in Apt, France

Archaeological finds from Julia Apta Vulgientium in the Museum of History and Archaeology in Apt, France. 

Apt was at one time the chief town of the Vulgientes, a Gallic tribe who was part of a federation of the Albiques along with the Albienses from the Plateau of Albion and the Vordenses of Gordes.  The Vulgientes traded with Greeks at their colony of Massalia and the Phoenicians, as evidenced by Greek incscriptions and ceramics found at the site.  Apt was destroyed by the Romans about 125 BCE then restored by Julius Caesar, who conferred upon it the title  Apta Julia Vulgientium.  Apt served as an important city on the Via Domitia and the Julien Bridge over the Calavon river was constructed nearby.   Excavations have revealed a theater, a forum, a basilica and Decumanus Maximus.  Artifacts include ceramics, glass, domestic items, and funerary monuments.


Image:  The Roman Pont Julien that served Apta Julia on the Via Domitia  near Apt, France courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Jean-Marc Rosier

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