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Introduction The forum The harbour Houses and workshops The surroundings |
The forum of the settlement was excavated in 1935-1939 and 1956 at the locality La Maladière. Some trenches were dug in the western part in 1975-1976, in preparation for the "Promenade archéologique".
Aerial view of the remains of the forum, seen from the north. Photo: Google Earth.
The area of the forum. Drack-Fellmann 1988, Abb. 392b.
1: forum; 2: basilica; 3: temple; 4: statio of the skippers; 5: building with three small shrines; 6: quay; 7: ramp for boats; 8: houses; 9: warehouses.The square of the forum (1) measured some 45 x 50 m. On the north side was a square Gallo-Roman temple (3; 13.60 x 13.60 m.) with a square cella (7.70 x 7.70 m.). The entrance was on the east side. A masonry foundation to the east of the temple may have supported an altar.
View of the temple during the excavation in the 1930's. Photo: Gilliard 1942, fig. 2.To the south-east of the temple, in a layer resulting from a fire, nine fragments were found of a sculpture of the gigantomachy, the mythical battle fought between the Giants and the Olympian gods for supremacy of the cosmos. In view of their small size, the fragments will not have formed part of a frieze that decorated the temple itself. It has been suggested that the frieze belonged to a small isolated monument, an aedicula resting on another masonry foundation in front of the temple.
Two fragments of the gigantomachy found in 1936. Left: giant. Right: Jupiter with a bolt of lightning.
Limestone. W. 0.36, h. 0.27 and w. 0.28, h. 0.22. Photos: Musée romain de Lausanne-Vidy.
Reconstruction of the temple with aedicula and altar. Abetel 2007, fig. 60.
Also to the south-east of the temple an inscription with a dedication to Mercurius Augustus was found, set up by skippers "who in Leusonna occupy a place of business".
MERC[urio]
AVG(usto) S(acrum) [naut(ae)]
QVI LEVS[on(nae)]
CONSIST[unt]To Mercurius
Augustus dedicated. The skippers
who in Leusonna
occupy a place of business.Limestone slab, found in 1936 to the east of the temple on the forum.
W. 0.26, h. 0.36. Kolb et al. 2022, nr. 56. Photo: EDCS-10900259.On the south side of the square was a basilica, used for economic transactions and court sessions (2). It was built in the second quarter of the first century. The building was about 85 meters wide and had a central hall (69.50 x 17 m.). The hall was divided by fourteen pillars into two aisles with a large room on the west side. On the north side was a porticus with columns of limestone. The entrance, 4.20 m. wide, was also in the north side. It was flanked by fourteen small rooms, 4.00-4.20 m. wide and 6 m. deep.
View of the porticus during the excavation in the 1930's, seen from the east. Photo: Gilliard 1943, fig. 2.Two of the small rooms (4) had been joined by removing the wall that separated them, and a wide threshold was placed in the new entrance. In front of these two rooms another dedication by skippers was found. It was set up by the nautae Lacu Lemanno, the skippers who were active on the Lac Léman. In an inscription from Geneva they are called nautae Lacus Lemanni. Again we read that they occupied a place of business in Leusonna, presumably the two rooms in the facade of the basilica. These rooms have been called a schola, "guild seat", of the skippers. However, such seats are larger, with communal dining rooms. Rather, the rooms will have served as a statio, an "office" where one could meet representatives of the skippers to discuss business.
NVMINIBVS AVG(ustorum)
NAVTAE [lac]V LEMANNO
QVI LEUSO[nn]AE CONSISTVNT
L(ocus) [d(atus)] D(ecreto) D(ecurionum)To the divine power of the Emperors.
The skippers on the Lac Léman
who in Leusonna occupy a place of business.
The location was assigned by a decree of the city council.Limestone slab, found in 1936 in the porticus of the basilica.
W. 1.80, h. 0.55. Kolb et al. 2022, nr. 61. Photo: EDCS-10900263.A building to the east of the basilica (5) had a courtyard in which a row of three small rooms was found, presumably shrines (aediculae). Near the shrines three religious dedications emerged. One was a dedication to Hercules by a sevir Augustalis, a man involved with the Imperial cult. The other two were dedications to Neptunus. One was made by Titus Nontrius Vanatactus, the other was a third dedication by skippers, the nautae Leusonnenses, "skippers from Lausanne". Presumably these skippers formed one of the guilds that made up the nautae Lacu Lemanno, the "skippers of Lac Léman". The building may have been their guild seat or a sanctuary.
View of the three shrines after restoration, seen from the south. Photo: Gilliard 1947, fig. 4.
HERCVLI
SACR(um)
C(aius) MAEC(ius) FIRMVS
IIIIIIVIR AVG(ustalis)
C(urator) C(ivium) R(omanorum) DESIG(natus)
EX VOTO REF(ecit)To Hercules
dedicated.
Caius Maecius Firmus,
sevir Augustalis,
designated curator of the Roman citizens,
restored this based on a vow.Tabula ansata of limestone, found in 1939 to the east of the small shrines.
W. 0.49, h. 0.475, d. 0.12. Kolb et al. 2022, nr. 53. Photo: EDCS-10900258.
NEPTVNO
NAVTAE LEV
SON(nenses) EX INPEN(sis)
[sui]S CLAC[---]To Neptunus.
The skippers of
Leusonna, at their own
expense [---].Altar of limestone, found in 1939 to the east of the small shrines.
W. 0.66, h. 0.905, d. 0.54. Kolb et al. 2022, nr. 59. Photo: EDCS-10900261.
The other dedication to Neptunus is Kolb et al. 2022, nr. 58, EDCS-10900260.Two remarkable bronze objects were found in the area. In the north-west part of the building with the small shrines a statuette of Mercurius holding a money pouch was excavated. Near the large temple a small zither of Apollo was found that must have belonged to a statuette.
The statuette of Mercurius (h. 0.18) and the zither of Apollo (h. 0.14). Photos: Musée romain de Lausanne-Vidy. Drawing: Deonna 1947, fig. 31.
Introduction
The forum
The harbour
Houses and workshops
The surroundings
[21-Feb-2024]
