Monument to Augustus

[stevesarak]

Hi,

Years ago I went to Monte Carlo, on the way there the person showing my around, a local who lived near by pointed out an old worn pillar standing on the cliff leading down to Monte Carlo itself. The person said that it was called the monument to Augustus. It was dedicated to him for defeating the 13 tribes. He told me that if all the tribes had banded together they could have defeated Augustus but he kept them fighting among themselves and defeated them one by one.
Since then I’ve tried to find information on it but with no luck. I just realized that I have this forum as a resource, so has anyone heard of the monument to Augustus overlooking Monte Carlo? Is it real or is the pillar something else?

Thanks for any input.

[Tarbicus]

Steve, is it the Trophée des Alpes?

[url:2qdw3zq0]http://www.beyond.fr/sites/trophee.html[/url]

In 13 BC, during the reign of Augustus (who had been Octavian until 31 BC) the Romans planned a new coast road into Gaul (Provence). This road became the Via Julia Augustus (or Via Julia, later to merge into the Aurelian Way that was built 150 years later. Augustus used this route to conquer the Ligurians and bring the Pax Romain to Provence. At La Turbie the road passed over the lowest point on a ridge that ran out from Mont Agel. This was not only a strategic site, it was also the highest point on the long Roman road into Gaul and marked the gateway between Italy and the Roman conquests of Gaul.

The Trophy that was built in 6 BC on this Alpine Summit (Summa Alpe) was a massive structure, and even the truncated ruin dominates the village today and is visible from long distances to the east and west. Only a few of the columns that once circled the colonnade remain today [photo 1], and the stepped conical roof, topped probably by a statue of Augustus, are long gone. A model of the presumed original can be seen in the museum.

More photos here:
[url:2qdw3zq0]http://www.beyond.fr/sitephotos/tropheeP01.html[/url]
Be sure to hit 'Scroll big photos'.

More here, including a model of how it would have looked originally:

The Roman Senate ordered its construction in 5BC in honour of the emperor Augustus to commemorate the conquest of the Alps and the submission of 44 Ligurian tribes during Augustus' campaigns in 25, 16 and 15 BC. Their submission joined Gaul to Italy. The inscription on the side of the monument, shown below, is said to be the first page of French history.

[url:2qdw3zq0]http://www.astoft.co.uk/turbie.htm[/url]

[stevesarak]

Thanks for the picture but no its not. As you take the rode down to Monte Carlo, it takes you along the cliff where you can look down into the city. Sticking out of the ground right near the cliff edge is what looks like an old statue; warn down to just its core. It almost looks like a rock pillar formation standing I’d guess about ten feet tall (I could be wrong; it was over 20 years ago). If the person hadn't told be that it used to be a statue, I wouldn't have recognized it as such, it’s so worn.

If it is a monument, it’s a shame that it worn down to be unrecognizable. It’s only recognizable to the people that know what it is, if I’m to believe the person that told me.

[Ebusitanus]

I recall reading in the first Junkelmann book about his Alp march him describing this tropee as also praising his conquest over Raetia and the tribes in what is now Austria. I would have thought that the coastal strip by Augustus times was already firm in roman control given that it was the most direct link to Transalpine Gaul.

[stevesarak]

Maybe the tribes rebelled or it could might be another Augustus or the person that had told be about it was mistaken.

Just an after thought, where monuments usually placed near the area in question or in this case could it represent the 13 tribes someplace else but have been erected in this spot because of the view, ships coming in could see it.