Romans in Lyon

May 8

Dear Liza,

One of the things that has fascinated me about Lyon is its history… ancient history. There is evidence of folks living and celebrating here as early as the Iron Age, and when the Roman Empire expanded into this area in 43 BC, they named it Lugdunum.

I have seen some Roman foundations at the Cluny Museum in Paris, which is built on a ancient Roman bath. Still, I wanted to see some actual, outside, “sitting around for more than 2,000 years” ruins.

In Lyon, the Romans their city built high above the Sâone River for defense and sanitation. To get to the Amphitheater of the Three Gauls, we crossed the Rhône, and up some narrow, steep lanes. Slowly, we gained altitude, every now and then catching a glimpse of the city spreading out below us.

On the final push to the hilltop, we found about sixty of them, all painted and pretty, and all going straight up. Oh, my aching quads!

And then, right in the middle of a neighborhood, there it was. The ruins, sitting out in the sun and rain since the year 19 A.D., were there. But they were fenced off. The ancient arena is being used for some city celebration later this month. It was cool, in a way, that those ancient stones being sat on by modern folks.

But I didn’t get to be one of them. Sigh. But history teaches us perspective, right? I know there are OTHER Roman ruins in town, and I know how to get there. An adventure for another day.

Of course, there were stairs going down, too…. But I don’t mind them so much.

Love,

Grandma Judy