What did the Romans ever do in Narbonne? A magnificent new museum sheds light on 500 years of history

Narbonne in southern France was once one of the most important cities of the Roman world, then known as Narbo Martius, but until recently this most prominent provincial capital had few Roman remains. Less than two hours drive away is the magnificent Roman amphitheatre at Nîmes, today used for bullfighting; Arles, a little further east, has a smaller but beautifully preserved amphitheatre; and Orange has its Roman theatre, today used for the annual opera festival. Roman viaducts and aqueducts, remains of villas and roads abound in the region, but there was little in its former capital.
The colony of Narbo was founded in 118 BC on a site of flat, well-watered ground with excellent agricultural potential, and close to the apex of a large, well-sheltered harbour. It was the first colony founded by Rome beyond Italian soil.
The only visible traces of Narbonne’s previous glory were a mosaic floor outside the cathedral, some archaeological activity and a handful of modern pointers, such as a giant amphora sitting in the middle of a roundabout or modern renditions of Roman pillars or arches.
However, far from sight was a unique reminder of what had been, a remarkable collection of Roman funerary stones. The several hundred stones that once constituted funerary monuments had been used as part of the construction of the city’s defensive wall during the medieval period, and when the walls were demolished in the 19th century they were stored ajumble in a disused church, presumably visited by an occasional scholar, but hardly on the map of things to see in the city.
But recently Narbonne got its own Roman monument, a magnificent museum, Narbo Via, designed by the English architect Norman Foster, with the funerary stones at its centre. And the curation is stunning.
Foster is known for his contemporary architecture, which includes the so-called Gherkin in London. In southern France he is best known for the awesome Millau Gorge viaduct, familiar to anyone travelling to Languedoc from the north or Paris. It is the tallest bridge in the world – a major engineering and aesthetic achievement.
The museum is more understated ­– a single-storey structure that sort of resembles a Roman villa, but with a precast concrete canopy, and walls striped in varying shades of terracotta that reflect the natural earth hues of the region. This is characteristic of the museum. Echoes and contrasts that link the past and the present in dramatic consonance.
Inside the eye is drawn to the central feature – 760 stones displayed in a metal wall – 76m long and 10m high. On the stones are friezes of daily Roman life: trophies and military weapons, bulls and horses, memorials to cherished children and adults of importance. The imagery is both anthropomorphic and abstract. The pieces, mostly limestone, weigh anywhere between 300kg and a ton each. They are mechanically moved around the wall, giving prominence to different stones, so that visitors can bring them up on the computer-interpretive equipment in front.
If one looks carefully, one can see the conservators and archaeologists behind the stones and its metal wall operating its lifting and moving mechanism. It’s a bit like a library retrieval system, stones being mechanically moved quickly from one section to another or back to the conservators and archaeologists working behind the scenes.
The rest of the museum is equally stunning. The six main galleries are like chapters of a book. Each one tells a story of Narbo Martius, using objects as sources. Each object has been cleaned and mounted in a way that supports its original context. The rooms are bright and airy. Although some artefacts are small, they were part of a much larger whole and often this is imaginatively implied by the display. There are also digital reconstructions in rooms off the main galleries, showing how ships and even the harbour were constructed or how the city looked.
The story begins in 118 BC when the city was founded on a key route between Rome and Spain. It tells the story of its port, its people, its villas, its civic structures, and demonstrates how religion governed life from pagan to Christian Narbonne. In the third century, Narbo Martius began to experience economic and military difficulties and thus began its decline as the Roman empire began to face pressure from the Visigoths and other Germanic tribes.
By end of the third century, Narbonne remained a capital, but of a smaller province. In 413, the Visigoth king Athaulf entered Narbonne, and although the city was returned to the Emperor some 40 years later it was given to the Visigoths, who founded the kingdom in Aquitaine, and so ended Roman Narbonne’s 500-year history.