Arles (Civ6)/Civilopedia

Reaching its peak in the last stages of the Roman Empire – in 395 AD it was the seat of the Praetorian Prefecture of Gaul, and the Emperor Constantine I had baths built there – the city of Arles lay on the Rhone in the province of Gallia Narbonensis. But from the 5th through the 8th centuries it was repeatedly devastated by invasions and raids of Visigoths, Saracens, and even barbarians from the north. Finally, in 739 Charles Martel brought Provence to heel and Arles began a resurgence. In 855, the city became the capital of the Kingdom of Arles. Then in 933, Hugh of Arles gave up his kingdom to Rudolph II, who merged it with holdings in Burgundy; finally, upon the death of the last of Rudolph’s descendants, the kingdom was inherited by the Salic Emperor Conrad II. Thus began a slow process of absorption into France, until by the 1600s the kingdom was no more.