11:00 am – 1:00 pm
The Italian Academy, 5th floor seminar room
Kimberly Cassibry
Wellesley College
The Arch at Orange: Roman Imperialism, French Heritage, and UNESCO
Friday, April 12, 2024
11:00 AM
Abstract
France is famous for Napoleon’s triumphal arches, which drew inspiration from ancient precedents in the city of Rome. Yet France is also home to many ancient arch monuments constructed when the land was under Roman rule. The most prominent one was built around 20 BCE at the entrance to the Roman colony Arausio, now called Orange. This talk proposes a new history of Orange’s colonial monument with a focus on three critical discussions: Roman France’s contributions to innovative art and architecture in antiquity; the extensive restoration of Roman remains in heritage initiatives that emerged as France pursued its own empire in the 18th and 19th centuries; and the intersecting imperial politics behind this arch’s UNESCO World Heritage listing in 1981. In light of current debates about controversial monuments, how has the Roman colonial arch at Orange become a French national treasure deemed of universal value for mankind, and how should it be remembered in the future?
