GALLIA ROMANA

The circus aedicule described by Gervase of Tilbury in the 13^th century no longer existed in the 16^th century; only the obelisk – three-quarters of which were buried – remained. The upper part of the monolith (approximately two-thirds of the entire obelisk) had been conserved in the suburb known as the 'Faubourg de la Roquette', where it was used as a bench in the square in front of the house originally occupied by the Ventabren family, which, in the author's time, had passed into the hands of the Porcellets. In 1675, the obelisk was erected in front of the town hall (located on the old market place). The anonymous author's text was copied in 1776 by the abbot Bonnemant from the original version conserved in the cabinet of M. Nicolay

« Extrà portam quoque, quam Rochetam dicunt, sepulta ferè jacet piramis, quam in gratiam Sabaudiæ ducis, egestâ tellure, in lucem editam prægrandem vidi anno 1592°, cujûs superius extremum, si expertis credimus, jacet ad hostium domûs antiquæ Porcelletæ, quæ hodie est Richardi Sabbaterii. In Monasterio quoque sancti Cæsarii, quod virginum est, videtur aliud extremum superius pyramidis, quod fortè jungeretur illi extremo quod jacet ad hostium Richardi Sabbaterii ; et sunt qui experti id affirment, ita ut, si erigeretur ea pyramis suis partibus unita, sicut eam erigere destinauerat duc Sabaudiæ cum principatum Arelatæ suis nummis ambiebat, euaderet profectò in obeliscum. »