ABSTRACT
Literary sources before Ausonius are for the most part silent about Bordeaux.1 Strabo noted the foreign origins of the Biturgi Vivisces, the tribe in whose territory Bordeaux lay, and Martial regarded the Bordelais as stupid.2 In the third century the city served as the scene of Tetricus’ elevation, and an anonymous traveller to the Holy Land in 333 noted its geographical position on the river Garonne and its access to the Atlantic.3 The best way of recapturing life in the early imperial city is through numerous surviving inscriptions and engraved monuments, some reused as building materials for the late Roman walls.4 The inscriptions tell about the people who lived in Bordeaux, their origins, beliefs and artistic tastes. From the reliefs, we can see their faces and occasionally glimpse moments of daily life.
