The Expansion and Contraction of the Urban Fabric

The presence of a major sanctuary and a monumental fountain, plus the existence of residential neighbourhoods at the heart of the Les Mersans plateau demonstrates that the town was developed on the site of a previous settlement.

The ancient town extended from the bridge across the Creuse to the end of the Les Courattes plateau. With a width of between 400 and 500 metres and a length of 1,400 metres, the maximum area the town covered was around 70 hectares.

The town was abandoned in what seems to have been a widespread trend, from the middle of the 3rd century. Feeling the effects of difficult economic conditions, insecurity and the upheavals which affected Gallo-Roman society, the urban structure slowly began to contract.

The transport network and urban organisation

In a design typical of many other Gallo-Roman towns built around the early years of the first century AD, a grid of north-south and east-west streets was constucted on the Les Mersans plateau.

At the beginning of the 3rd century, the town underwent a major redevelopment and the alignment of the streets redirected 16° to the east. It is probable that initially the residential areas weren't affected by this redesign but that it was particularly the public sectors, the streets and monuments constructed at that time that had to fall into line with the new rules.

The pace of development

The first indications of urbanisation arrived with the creation of traffic routes, approximately orientated north-south and east-west, and by the subsequent division of the land into plots which followed the same lines.

Some important developments took place in the second half of the 1st century, during which Roman characteristics become clearer: masonry progressively replaced bare earth, urban facilities improved with the widening of roads and the construction of pavements. The most significant development is the appearance of a dignitary's house.

It is possible to say with some certainty that, in the second half of the 1st century, the agglomeration of Argentomagus witnesses the construction of houses whose owners belong to a wealthy elite.

During the same period, the temples were built in the centre of town, the theatre opened its doors and the first elements of urban trappings, such as the public fountain, were established.

Argentomagus - successful Roman town

A certain number of characteristics indicate that these works fit into a public works tradition peculiar to secondary Gallo-Roman towns; the surfacing of the streets displays the same material, limestone slabs and pebbles, as the preceding period and water is distributed by a network of wooden channels.

During this same period and right through the 2nd century, the town pursued a policy of creating monumental amenities: an amphitheatre was constructed, the theatre was rebuilt, thermal baths were built in the Saint-Etienne area to go with those already present in the centre of town.

Private houses benefited from the same construction dynamic. There was an increase in dignitaries' residences and even more modest housing participated in this embellishment of the urban environment.

It was during the second century that the town reached the apogee of its development.