GALLIA ROMANA

Audiat 1889 ; Maurin 1978, pp. 105-109 ; Lemerle 2005, p. 102 ; Maurin 2007, pp. 249-259

« Ad radicem collis pars Theatri visitur, antiqui sanè, et arcuati operis (unde nomen habet). In saxis illius inscriptiones nonnullæ conspiciuntur, quibus adducor ut credam Galienum Imperatorem Romanum, theatri opus hoc visendum construxisse, cum siquidem Aquitania summè delectatum ferunt, arcémque egregiam, vetustatis monumentum, Burdigale erexisse, quæ etiam hodiè Palatium Galieni nominatur. Sed hæc multa carie & situ exolescunt, vix enim vetera hodiè rudera extant, quando manu factum nihil est, quod aliquandò non conficiat & consumat vetustas. »
= “At the foot of the hill, one can see a part of the theatre, which was, in times past, a finely curved and sane edifice (whence the name). Several inscriptions, which can be made out on the stones [of the amphitheatre at Saintes], lead me to believe that this theatre was built by the Roman emperor Gallian, who, it is said, was very taken with the Aquitaine region and who built in Bordeaux the famous old citadel known today as the 'Gallian Palace'. Today, however, it is in bad repair, the site is neglected and only a few ruins remains, proof that all man-made things disappear and there is nothing that time does not waste and consume.”