The putrid fields

Pourrières (week 9)

In 102 BC, Caius Marius defeated a barbarian army on the plains at the foot of Mont Sainte-Victoire, in what became known as the campi putridi - the Putrid Fields.  To commemorate his victory, a pyramid monument was built along the Roman road.  Naturally, after the fall of Rome, the monument was mostly dismantled to provide building supplies for the local peasants.  However, a small amount remained, and the village of Pourrières (the name supposedly derived from campi putridi) collected the remaining blocks and built a fountain.  Thus, the blocks in this picture date from ~102 BC, but the structure itself is considerably younger.  (The information about the Font Caius Marius is from a neat book we found in our rental house, called Secret Provence)

One of the curious things about touring Provence is that you never know when you're going to stumble upon some Roman artifact.  There are numerous places along the roads where oddly square-shaped caves can be seen - but the regular shape and the size imply that these caves were made by the Romans for their aqueduct systems.  For example, as we were driving along the road we call the "forest road" to Aix (D17), we came across this remnant piece of what appears to be part of a Roman aqueduct beside the road.  Whether this is actually vintage Roman, I don't know; it's at least old and made in the Roman style.