Ancient Theatre of Vendeuil-Caply: A Gallo-Roman Performance Complex in France
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.3
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Classical
- Eras represented
- Iron Age, Classical
- Civilizations
- Roman
- Site type
- Entertainment
- Remains
- Theatre
On this page11 sections
History
The Ancient Theatre of Vendeuil-Caply is a Roman-period archaeological site in France, built within the Gallo-Roman settlement of Vendeuil-Caply mainly during the first and second centuries AD. The settlement was a vicus, a Roman community serving local administrative, commercial, or transport needs rather than a colonia or municipium. It became the chief town of a pagus, a territorial subdivision of the civitas of the Bellovaci, a Belgic people whose civic territory was centred around ancient Beauvais. The settlement stood on the road from Caesaromagus, the Roman name for Beauvais, to Paliartus, probably Paillart, where the route met the Ocean road of the Via Agrippa between Lugdunum, or Lyon, and Gesoriacum, or Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Origins and Roman development
The settlement occupied about 130 hectares between the hills of Catelet and Calmont, extending across parts of the modern communes of Vendeuil-Caply, Beauvoir, and Saint-André-Farivillers. Its identified archaeological area measured about 1,200 metres from north to south and more than 1,000 metres across. Calmont may have contained an Iron Age oppidum, a fortified settlement associated with communities of western Europe, although the defensive traces found there have not settled the question. The proposal that the site was Bratuspantium, a settlement mentioned in Julius Caesar’s commentaries, remains a hypothesis.
The small theatre was probably built during the second quarter of the first century AD. A larger theatre followed at the end of the first century or the beginning of the second century in the Saint-Denis valley. It could hold nearly 4,000 spectators. Both buildings formed part of the settlement’s development during the period when Vendeuil-Caply functioned as the chief centre of its pagus.
Fire, contraction, and military reuse
An extensive fire around AD 170–180 destroyed much of the vicus. The theatre at Catelet was abandoned after the fire, while the theatre in the Saint-Denis valley was remodelled and enlarged for a second time. During the third century, invasions, revolts, and economic difficulties weakened the settlement. Population shifted northward to Vendeuil, although activity continued at the ancient site. An isolated cemetery beside the departmental road included a church dedicated to Saint Denis, the Christian martyr traditionally regarded as the first bishop of Paris. The church has since been lost.
In the third century, the remodelled theatre in the Saint-Denis valley was converted into a refuge and became a castrum, a fortified military or refuge settlement in the Roman world. It was the only part of the vicus occupied during the fourth century. The site was abandoned at the beginning of the fifth century. Pottery recovered from the settlement includes Samian ware, a fine Roman tableware often covered with a red slip, made at La Graufesenque, one of the principal pottery centres of southern Gaul. The find points to connections between Vendeuil-Caply and that major production centre.
Recognition and archaeological investigation
The earliest known written description of the ruins dates to 1574, when a report was prepared at the request of the Prince of Condé, a French nobleman and lord of Breteuil. During the seventeenth century, the site acquired the nickname “Peru of Antiquarians” because objects were repeatedly removed for private collections, including the collection of Sully, lord of Vendeuil.
Louvet, a regional historian, first recognized traces of streets in the cereal fields. In the early nineteenth century, Jacques Cambry, the first prefect of the Oise and a historian, organized investigations that produced early engravings, descriptions of finds, and observations of remains visible at ground level. In 1843, Abbé Devic published a substantial study with a plan showing the road from Beauvais to Amiens, Catelet hill, the Saint-Denis valley, the large theatre, and a wooded area that apparently marked the last part of the ancient town to be returned to cultivation.
Fragmentary investigations continued until shortly before the First World War, when the Roman theatre and baths were identified. Aerial photography by the French National Geographic Institute in 1955 prompted renewed fieldwork from 1956. Later aerial images by Roger Agache and François Vasselle, combined with ground observations and test trenches, led to systematic excavation. Directed by Gérard Dufour, excavations continued without interruption from 1956 to 1986 with assistance from the Association of the Friends of Vendeuil-Caply. The work began with the small theatre and later examined the large theatre and other buildings that were brought to light and remain visible.
The French state classified the theatre as a historical monument in 1982. In 2007, the General Council of the Oise acquired full ownership of the Gallo-Roman theatre in the context of decentralization legislation. The theatre now functions as an archaeological monument, while the wider remains preserve evidence of the former vicus.
Remains
The archaeological landscape extends across the Saint-Denis valley and the surrounding ground occupied by the ancient settlement. The identified area forms a roughly rectangular zone of about 130 hectares, approximately 1,200 metres long and more than 1,000 metres wide. The surviving theatre is the best-preserved vestige of the Gallo-Roman vicus, while excavated remains of other buildings are also visible. The site’s physical layout includes the two theatres, the road from Beauvais toward Amiens, the Catelet hill, the Saint-Denis valley, and Roman baths.
Theatre buildings
Small theatre at Catelet
Only part of the small theatre has been excavated. It had a semicircular plan extended by two parallel straight sides, with a diameter of approximately 73 metres. Built probably during the second quarter of the first century AD, it used the natural chalk of the site. The lower part of the cavea, the bank or structure containing the theatre seating, and the orchestra, the central performance area before the stage, were cut into the chalk. The rest of the seating area rested on an embankment held externally by a surrounding wall. The lower section probably contained built seating, while the upper part may have been a grass-covered slope. The building was abandoned after the fire around AD 170–180.
Large theatre in the Saint-Denis valley
The large theatre was probably constructed at the end of the first century or the beginning of the second century AD. Its capacity approached 4,000 spectators. Excavation exposed the orchestra, the stage buildings, and the cavea with several seating levels. The structure was enlarged and remodelled twice. The major redevelopment followed the fire of approximately AD 170–180, when the building was enlarged for continued use. In the third century, it was transformed into a fortified refuge, becoming the castrum that remained occupied during the fourth century. Its surviving fabric is the principal preserved remnant of the settlement and forms the archaeological monument now associated with Vendeuil-Caply.
Catelet hill and settlement infrastructure
Roman camp
Catelet hill, north of the settlement, contains a major archaeological complex. A probably Caesarian-period Roman camp covered about 10 hectares. Its defences included a gate, a titulus, which was a defensive earthwork placed outside a fortification’s entrance, and a complex arrangement of secondary defences. A buried double roadway provided access for resupply.
Roads, baths, and excavated buildings
Archaeological work identified the Roman road running from Beauvais toward Amiens within the ancient settlement. The locations of the Catelet hill, the Saint-Denis valley, the large theatre, and Roman baths were also established. Excavations brought other buildings to light, and these remains remain visible within the archaeological landscape surrounding the theatre.
