Les groupes épiscopaux de l’Antiquité tardive en Provence

In the very few Christian communities known to exist in third-and fourth-century Provence, the faithful likely gathered in the little understood domus ecclesie. In most cases, cathedrals only appeared in the fifth century along with regional diocesan development. They were all built intra muros, generally in marginal locations. All the same they have left their mark in the urban landscape, especially since they were often erected on the site of former public monuments. Archaeological excavations have unearthed a dozen of them : in most instances, these were single-nave buildings, on average about thirty meters long by about ten meters wide. All of them had a baptismal font nearby, although only five of these are known in Provence : in Aix-en-Provence, Cimiez, Fréjus, Marseille, and Riez. All these fonts exhibit an outward square shape and an inward octagonal shape, with unequal sizes revealing the hierarchy among the Christian communities that built them. Even less known are the episcopal residences that formed, with the cathedral and the baptismal font, either in a compact episcopal core layout, such as at Fréjus and perhaps Cimiez, or in an open site layout, such as at Marseille and Aix-en-Provence where identified remnants spread onto two enclaves of the ancient city on both sides of the street.