The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1909-01-23
ARIES, FRANCE, Jan. 1lth. 1903.


morning, carrying with them the confused recol-
lection of Roman arena, an antique theatre, a
modern" hotel, whose accommodations are ex-
ceptionally poor, and a profound conviction
that the proverbial beauty of the Arlesian wo-
men is myth.
Yet Aries was once the metropolis of the Ro-
man Empire. was second in Importance only to
the Eternal City, and contains today historic
ruins and artistic marvels, which, il they ex-
listed. perchance. in Italy instead of in Provence,
would infallibly attain world wide renown.
Among artists and Psychologists Aries is. of
course, rendered the homage she 80 richly de-
serves, but the city is practically unknown out
side this limited circle and is neglected by the
average tourist. Frederick Mistral, the beloved
poet CT Provence, has sung her glory in words
no less historic than poetic, for few cities can
boast of nobler or more brilliant past.
Aries was founded centuries before the Ro-
man conquest, probably by the same Greek and
Ph0nician adventures who established fishing
village on the site now occupied by Marseilles.
In julius C@sar's time Aries Tor Arlate) was
already fourishing Gallo city, populated
chiefly by Greeks and Celts. When Caesar estab-
lished Roman colonies at Aries and Narbonne,
he stationed in the former city the veterans of
the famous Sixth Legion, but despite the new
as a people, preserved their distinctly Greco
Celtic characteristics until the epoch of Con-
stantine and the establishment of the Imperial
court upon the banks of the Rhone.
Aries was them to all intents and purposes, a
seaport Though not actually situated on the
coast. she enjoyed the advantages of direct COM
munication with the Mediterranean by the two
branches of the Rhone delta, at that period
shorter. wider and deeper than today. And i'm
mediately to the east of the city a vast inland
lake, whose outlet was the Rhone, extended to
the foot of the hills on which still rise the ruins
of the ancient city of Montmajour. And upon
the summit of a neighboring cliff, now sur
rounded for miles on every side by fertile fields,
the shepherds sometimes stumble upon heavy
iron ring, imbedded in the rock. to which great
vessels were moored in former ages. The ship
builders of Aries were renowned throughout
the ancient world and history records that on
one occasion they built and launched, within
period Of thirty days, twelve staunch war-gal-
legs destined to aid in the capture and subjuga-
ton Of Marseilles. this latter port having allied
itself with Pompeii in a struggle for indepen-
dence. And when Marseilles. vanquished and
Inundated, was compelled to surrender her
prestige, her privileges. her treasures and a
large portion of her territory, Aries reaped the
benefit of her decadent rivals downfall. In
word, Aries was at that period what Marseilles
is today-the principal seaport of the valley of
the Rhone.
An ordinance of Honorius, dated A. d. 4ls,
casts aside the ordinary legal phraseology and
adopts the following lyric strain to describe the
advantages of the provincial metropolis:
$50 happy is the situation of Aries, SO great is
the sphere of her activity that she is mistress of
the commerce of the world. All the wondrous
silks and tapestries of the Orient all the spices
and perfumes of Arabia all the rich fabrics of
Assyria, all the fruits of Africas fecund SOIL all
the products of Gaul and Spain. all are possess
ed by Aries in even greater abundance than in
the countries of their origin.'
When the Emperor Constantine inherited
from his father. Chorus the sceptre of Gaul,
he permitted Treves to retain the nominal rank
of capital, but transferred his personal residence
to Aries, in order to keep watchful eye, at
close range. upon the progress of events in Italy
He constructed an Imperial palace upon the
banks of the Rhone, and ornamented the city
with number of other royal monuments, and
even after his brilliant victories had permitted
him to enter Rome in triumph and establish his
court upon the seven hills. he returned to Aries
from time to time and continued with such a
lavish hand the enlargement and establishment
of this latter city that its increasing power and
splendor merited the appellation of the Second
Rome" Year by year Aries grew stronger and
Treves proportionally weaker, and finally Aries
became in name as well as in fact the capital of
Gaul.
The religious history of Aries is equally indus
trious. She was the first provincial city to re-
ceive the teaching of the Evangelists and later
became the first stronghold of the Latin Church
in Gaul. According to tradition, Immediately
after Christ's ascension, the Jews seized Laza-
rus, Martha, the three Marys, Trophine and
number of other disciples, and after forcing
them aboard a rudderless, leaking ship. aban-
doned them to the mercy of the waves. By di-
vine aid the little band was waited safely across
the Mediterranean and landed on Arlesan ter
ritory, at the point called Saintes Maries della
Mer. The legend may possess a semblance of
truth, for recent geological surveys have proven
that the coast in the immediate vicinity of st.
Maries. unlike the adjacent seaboard, has suf-
fered little or no change during the past 1900
years. Also Christian tombs have been discov-
cred in the Camarque, apparently belonging to
the first century A. D., while two miles from
Aries a monument has been unearthed, which
bears the dedication in Latin:
ITO the Mother of Christ, still living.'
Aries miraculously escaped destruction dur
ing the great barbarian invasion of the fifth CEN
fury and later emerged triumphant from her
long conflict with the Saracens, though these
latter savage warriors were several times in
temporary possession of the city. After a num-
Der of more or less alliances with various king
doms and republics Aries finally became, in $50,
the capital of Burgoyne, and Conrad II. was
crowned liking of Aries" Two centuries later
Frederick Barbarossa espoused a princess of
this house. These facts indicate that the elev-
enth century Aries was still an important and
powerful city-but already her hour was sound
ed. The sea had gradually retreated, the coast
was many miles away. the great inland lake was
a useless, unnavigable, uninhabitable marsh.
Her Importance as a seaport had been the foun-
dalton of all her glory. This lost, all was lost.
Her complete decadence was only matter of
time. Vicissitudes followed in rapid and I'M
broken succession, and when Louis XIV. as
cended the throne of France Aries was merely
a mediocre provincial town. She managed to
preserve, however, a certain aristocratic and in
telectual prestige, as attests the history of her
Academy, which enjoyed the royal patronage.
But the revolution destroyed everything, and
today Aries, the former capital of mighty En-
pre- is merely the seat of a sous prefecture.
Her history is ended, but many antique monu
ments still stand, silent witnesses of her glory,
and in another letter mean to describe briefly
the most notable of these ruins. SEABROoK.
FARM PROPERTY in Talbot county, Md, APP
pears to be in great demand just now at big
81 cal