The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1909-01-26
SEABROOK'S TRAVELS
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(By ". B. Seabrook.)

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Special to The Herald and News.
Aries, France.-Fifty miles north
Of Marseilles, on the great trunk
line connecting Paris with the Medi-
terranean coast, with Nice. with
Monte Carlo and with Italy, is sit
uated sleepy, stupid little provin-
cial town of $4,000 inhabitants. Its
name is Aries. It's streets are mar
row, miserably paved and poorly
lighted. It's social life is nil and its
commercial activity, is limitci to a
weekly sheep-market. foundry and a
sausage factory. Every afternoon
Mediterranean Express, crowded
with tourists. steams into the depot,
stops for two minutes, and then con-
tinues its flying voyage southwark.
Very rarely do travellers take the
trouble to visit Aries, and the few,
who occasionally descend from their
luxurious compartments, almost in
variably resume their journey on the
following morning, carrying with
them the confused recollection Of a
Roman arena, an antique theatre, a
|'modern' hotel, whose accommoda-
tions are exceptionally poor. and a
profound conviction that the proven
bal beauty Of the Arlesian women is
a myth.
Yet Aries was once the metropolis
Of the Roman Empire, was second in
Importance only to the Eternal City,
and contains today historic ruins and
Artistic marveE, which, if they ex-
listed, perchance, in Italy instead Of
in Provence, would infallibly attain
worldwide renown. Among artists
and psychologists, Aries is, Of course,
rendered the homage she so richly de-
serves, but the city is practically un-
known outside this limited circle, and
is neglected by the average tourist
Frederick Mistral, the beloved poet
Of Provence has sung her glory in
words no less historic than poetic,
for few cities can boast nobler Or
more brilliant past.
Aries was founded centuries before
the Roman conquest, probably by the
same Greek and Phocian adventurers
who established fishing village on
the site now occupied by Marseilles:
in julius Caesars time, Aries (or Ar
late) was already a flourishing Galhc
city, populated chiefly by Greek and
Celts; when Caesar established Ro-
man colonies at Aries and Narbonne,
he stationed in the former city the
veterans of the famous Sixth Legion;
but despite the new ethnic element
thus introduced, the Arlesians as a
people preserved their distinctly
Graeco-Celtic characteristics until the
epoch Of Constantine and the estab-
Ishment Of the imperial court upon
the banks Of the Rhone.
Aries was then, to all intents and
purposes. a seaport. Though not ac-
tually situated on the coast; she en-
joyed the advantages Of direct COM
munication with the Mediterranean
by the two branches Of the Rhone del
ia, at that period shorter, wider and
deeper than today; and Immediately
to the east Of the city a vast inland
lake, whose outlet was the Rhone, ex-
tended to the foot Of the hills on
which still rise the ruins Of the an
cient city of Montmajour: and upon
the summit Of a neighboring cliff, now
surrounded for miles on every side by
fertile fields, the shepherds some
times stumble upo ma heavy iron ring,
imbedded in the rock, to which great
vessels were moored in former ages.
The ship-builders of Aries We're re-
nowned throughout the ancient world
and history records that on one oc-
casion they built and launched, with
in a period of thirty days, twelve
stauneh war-galleys destined to aid
in the capture and subjugation OF
Marseilles, this latter port having al
lied itself with Pompeii in a struggle
for independence. And when Mar
seilles, vanquished and Inundated
was compelled to surrender her pres
tige, her privileges, her treasures and
a large portion of her territory, Ar
les reaped the benefit Of her decadent
rivals downfall. In word, Aries
was at that period what Marseilles is
1oday-the principal seaport Of the
valley Of the Rhone.
An ordinance Of Honorius, date A.
D. 418, cast aside the ordinary legal
phraseology and adopts IT," following