St Remy de Provence - Two Strikes and Still In

The highlight of our day was St. Remy de Provence... a town of 10,000 people... who can certainly bask in the glory of long past eras. But for me, this town started with two strikes against its name.

First, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence was the birthplace of Nostradamus, the16th century author of prophecies... who has been misquoted and lauded by every villain in subsequent history. Take, for example, the beautiful Roman tower overlooking Nimes... some upstart in the employ of the French king read the prophecies of Nostradamus and pointed to words clearly stating that the Romans had hidden tons of gold in the foundations of steps decorating the base of the tower... they pulled out the lot... and were astounded when no gold was found. The people of St. Remy should be reprimanded for giving Nostradamus his start... heralded a saviour with healing powers. His biggest claim to fame was when he presented a mixture of secret herbs and spices as the cure for the Black Death plague. (The rats and fleas had a good old laugh.)

Second, St Remy showed professional negligence in exercising their duty of care for poor old Vincent Van Gough. He was institutionalised for a year in an asylum just outside St Remy... at the end of the year, they asked Vincent if he was better. "Of course", said Vincent... so they showed him the road leading back to his home... ignoring the fact that he was still churning out these masterpieces that shouted, "Hey guys, I'm in trouble." If St Remy had kept him incarcerated for another year, we could have enjoyed an additional 150 masterpieces. Shortly after his release, Vincent took his own life.

But St Remy can't be faulted on the quality of its Roman and Pre-Roman history. You know of the Celts/Gauls who gave the Greeks such a hard time, they had to invite the Romans in to quell the fighting. Well, those barbaric mountain men came from St Remy... the Salyens... actually, just 5 klms outside the town... at Glanum. The Gauls had settled in Glanum since the 6th-7th century BC. When the Greeks came to Marseille, the Glanum people traded with them... made good profits... copied their architecture... even borrowed a few of their gods. But the Greeks declined to invest in a proper army... and the temptation proved too much for Glanum... the Greek's riches in Marseille were there for the taking. But in 125 BC, the Roman army taught the Salyans some good manners... ruined the Glanum village. The Salyans built afresh... Glanum lay along busy trade routes and was at the head of a steep narrow gorge... so rebuilding was the obvious thing to do. In the following year, the Romans put on a repeat performance. In 90 BC the Romans again flattened the town. In 49 BC, Caesar recaptured Marseille... and this time set about the Romanization of the Glanum. Roman administrators and citizens moved into Glanum. This town did not have the position to be as prosperous as Lyon or Nimes... but it had the trappings of Roman civilisation appropriate for a town of its size.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Glanum was abandoned... and its stone pilfered for other buildings. Because the village was in a narrow Valley, it silted up quickly... covering most of the foundations of Glanum's buildings. Gradually, restoration work commenced... as early as the 16th century... and valuable items from Glanum now fill display cases in museums around the world. But the Celtic tribes of Salyan had the last laugh... they were part of the Gaelic armies that bid the Romans farewell!