The limestone monolith known as the menhir of Courbessac stands in a field near the aerodrome. This structure rises over two metres and dates to approximately 2500 BCE. It remains the oldest monument found within Nîmes today. Semi-nomadic cultivators inhabited the alluvial plain of the Vistrenque River between 4000 and 3500 BCE. The hill of Mt. Cavalier served as the site for an early oppidum that eventually birthed the city. Strabo, the Greek geographer, recorded this town as the regional capital for the Volcae Arecomici people. A local water deity named Nemausus gave the settlement its name. In 123 BCE, the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus launched a campaign against Gallic tribes in the area. He defeated the Allobroges and the Arverni while the Volcae offered no resistance. The Roman province Gallia Transalpina was established in 121 BCE. Construction on the Via Domitia began from 118 BCE through the later site of the city. Veterans of Julius Caesar's legions received plots of land to cultivate on the plain of Nîmes. Augustus launched a major construction program in the city around 28 BCE. He ordered the building of a six-kilometer ring of ramparts reinforced by fourteen towers. Two gates remain standing today: the Porte d'Auguste and the Porte de France. The Maison Carrée stands as one of the finest surviving examples of Roman temple architecture. This exceptionally well-preserved temple dates from the late first century BCE.
Medieval Turmoil And Religious Conflict
The Visigoths captured the city in 472 during a period of shifting power across Gaul. By 725, the Muslim Umayyads had conquered the whole Visigothic territory of Septimania including Nîmes. Charles Martel led an expedition to Septimania and Provence between 736 and 737. His forces largely destroyed the city which remained in the hands of Umayyad allies. Pepin the Short captured the city again in 752 ending the Islamic government. An uprising took place against the Carolingian king in 754 but was quickly put down. Count Radulf, a Frank, was appointed master of the city after these events. Nîmes became only a shadow of the opulent Roman city it had once been. Local authorities installed themselves in the remains of the amphitheatre where they lived alongside the Knights of the Arena. Feudal times in the twelfth century brought local troubles that lasted until the days of St. Louis. The Rhone Valley underwent an uninterrupted series of invasions during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. These events ruined the economy and caused famine throughout the region. Customs were forgotten while religious troubles developed into full-scale conflict. Nîmes served as one of the Protestant strongholds during the French Wars of Religion. The Michelade massacre occurred within the city adding to the misery of periodic outbreaks of plague. Population growth caused the town to expand from 21,000 to 50,000 inhabitants by the middle of the seventeenth century. Slum housing was replaced with reconstruction projects including Notre-Dame-Saint-Castor and the Bishop's palace.