FAISON MONUMENT. 149 



If any other evidence was needed to provx that the 

 ancient people of Gaul shod their horses, beyond that 

 furnished by the discovery of these articles in situations, 

 and accompanied by relics, which cannot leave a doubt as 

 to the fact, it would be supplied in a most conclusive and 

 satisfactory manner by the monument which has been, 

 it may be said, re-discovered in the public museum of 

 Avignon, by that most indefatigable and typical archaeolo- 

 gist, Mr C. Roach Smith. This most interesting piece 

 of sculpture was foimd at Vaison, in the department of 

 Vaucluse, on the Ouvese, a tributary of the Rhone ; a place 

 retaining almost unchanged the ancient name, Vasio, and 

 described by Pomponius Mela and Ptolemy as one of the 

 wealthiest cities of Gallia Narbonensis. It was the capital 

 of the Vocontii, and the vast quantities of antiquities which 

 have at times been recovered from the ancient site, cover- 

 ing, as it did, a large extent of ground, bears witness to its 

 opulence in ancient times. ' All we know of this monu- 

 ment is the meagre assertion that it was found at Vaison. 

 The structure, to which the portions about to be described 

 originally belonged, appears to have been of large dimen- 

 sions, erected probably upon a quadrilateral basement. 

 The summit is wanting, and two of the sides ; but the 

 two which remain are in line preservation, and covered 

 with sculptures in a good style of art. The inscription is 

 lost, so that we have no clue whatever to the name or 

 history of the persons to whom such a costly memorial 

 was erected, except so far as the two principal subjects, in 

 the central compartments, may be accepted as referring 

 to the public offices he held, the usual object of such 

 representations. One of those subjects is a travelling scene 



