Exemples d’habitats aristocratiques sur les sites des rues Eugène-Desteuque et Ponsardin à Reims/Durocortorum

• Autores: Magalie Cavé, Stéphane Sindonino, Sabine Groetembril
• Localización: Gallia: Archéologie de la France antique, ISSN 0016-4119, Nº. 79, 1, 2022, págs. 169-194
• Idioma: francés
• Títulos paralelos:
  • Examples of aristocratic residences on Eugène-Desteuque and Ponsardin streets sites in Reims/Durocortorum
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• Resumen
  • English

    Though Reims’ territory is above all marked by traces of its successive enclosures, the road networks, monuments, and habitat installations are no less essential as components of this ancient urban landscape. The domus question has long occupied an important place in the archaeological research of Reims and, with more than thirty years of research and the development of rescue archaeology, our knowledge of these urban houses has been substantially improved. It is, of course, still challenged by the inherent difficulties excavations face in stratified contexts, as well as the consequences of methodical and systematic recovery of building materials at the end of Antiquity, which render reading and interpreting plans of architectural remains difficult. The excavations of rue Eugène-Desteuque and 6 rue Ponsardin offer three examples of elite Gallo-Roman residences. They occupy the south-western quarter of the Early Roman city, more particularly the area between the south-eastern corner of the forum and the ancient arch known as the “Arch of Ceres,” which was absorbed by the city during the layout of the city walls in Late Antiquity. Thus, at the end of Antiquity and for the duration of the medieval period, the two sites remained intra muros, located, nonetheless, only a few meters from the ramparts in the case of rue Ponsardin. The sites in this sector presents an archaeological context that is as rich as it is varied. All of them reveal the existence of a dense occupation ranging from the Late La Tène to the medieval and modern periods. The accumulation of remains over several centuries is particularly apparent; on rue Eugène-Desteuque, for example, the stratigraphy exceeds 5.50 m in thickness. The rue Eugène-Desteuque and Ponsardin homes evolved in a rather similar way; the two sites illustrate both a continuity of occupation throughout the ancient period, as well as the overall distribution of spaces. Both also show a profound dynamism in the architectural and decorative choices, manifested very early on (from the first days of the Empire), until very late (shortly before their disuse at the end of Antiquity). The walls erected in stone and mortar during the second half of Augustus’ reign on rue Eugène-Desteuque, as well as the early decorations –at times fragmentary, present on the walls and floors– on both sites confirm the early and dynamic development of the city during the early days of the Empire. It would take less than a generation for houses built in perishable materials to be abandoned for the adoption of Roman style construction (e.g. the opus signinum floors decorated with black and white tesserae crosses on rue Eugène-Desteuque). This in turn demonstrates the rapid acculturation of the urban elites of Reims. The architectural plans embraced were inspired by Mediterranean models, well known in Gaul, with rooms that were often spacious and heated and arranged around an outdoor space. This open-air area remained a major structuring element despite changes made elsewhere to the habitat. The first domus on rue Eugène-Desteuque was built in the years 20-30 AD. It was decorated with painted plaster and paved in opus tesselatum and opus signinum. In the 2nd c., a new domus was built following the voluntary demolition of the first. Culinary activity persisted in the courtyard, which was equipped with a hearth. This cooking space revealed the remains of fish which were subsequently studied. During the 3rd and 4th c. refurbishments and modifications were continuous. The site was definitively abandoned at the beginning of the 5th c. The excavation carried out on rue Ponsardin in Reims in 2013 revealed several rooms of another house dating back to the first half of the 2nd c. AD. These rooms are organized around a cryptoporticus composed of several wings, punctuated with aeration openings on the lower portions of its walls and endowed with a remarkable painted decoration bearing celadon green panels and delicate motifs. The middle of the 3rd c. corresponds to a late monumentalizing phase within the residence; while the room distribution was upheld, a colonnade was erected within the courtyard. The colonnade was built atop the former southern wall of the semi-buried gallery, which was thus transformed to become a stylobate platform. The abandonment is dated to around 375-380 - 410-420 AD. The study of the collection of fragmentary wall paintings is essential to the understanding of this residence’s architecture and reveals, relative to the current state of research, one of the only examples of a cryptoporticus in the urban context of a private home. The living conditions in the domus of rue Eugène-Desteuque and rue Ponsardin would have continued to improve over the centuries. In the rue Eugène-Desteuque, the size of the rooms increased in the la Rosace domus, while the ostentatious character of the domus in the rue Ponsardin was even more palpable, with the installation of a peristyle during its peak in the second half of the 3rd c. (installation of refined floors and hypocausts).

  • français

    Les fouilles de la rue Eugène-Desteuque et du 6 rue Ponsardin offrent trois exemples de demeures de l’élite gallo-romaine. Elles occupent le quart sud-ouest de la ville du Haut-Empire, plus particulièrement la zone comprise entre l’angle sud-est du forum et la porte Cérès. Malgré un état de conservation relativement moyen étant donné l’étagement des vestiges sur plusieurs siècles, les apports à la connaissance de l’habitat aristocratique à Reims sont nombreux. Les revêtements décorés présents sur les parois et les sols confirment la précocité et le dynamisme du développement de la ville dans les premiers temps de l’Empire. Les plans adoptés s’inspirent de modèles méditerranéens bien connus en Gaule avec des pièces, pour certaines spacieuses et chauffées, agencées autour d’une cour. La domus de la rue Ponsardin constitue, en l’état actuel des recherches, l’un des seuls exemples de cryptoportique en contexte urbain d’habitat privé. Celui-ci est composé de plusieurs ailes, percé de soupiraux et doté d’un décor peint remarquable à panneaux vert céladon et motifs soignés.