ABSTRACT
So far we have seen the Convenae in terms of their landscape, of their
situation within the Roman administrative system and of the possible earliest creation of their principal centre, Lugdunum. In this chapter, we shall
look at the evidence for the development of Lugdunum through its early
monuments and buildings (see Figure 2.1 for location of these). As was
argued in the Introduction, these buildings have two aspects which interest
us in this book: physical form and symbolic or ideological significance. In
the first part of the chapter we shall look at their physical form and their
functions, examining the individual buildings in approximately chron-
ological order under Augustus and the Julio-Claudians, roughly the century 30 B.C. to A.D. 70, and what went on in or at them. In the second part of
the chapter it is the symbolism and significance of the buildings and their
functions in creating the citizens of the Convenae that will be the focus.
How do the buildings individually and collectively fashion the people who
used them into participants in the life and thoughts of a community which
was part of the Roman empire?
