ローヌ川でシーザーの胸像発見

ローマの初代皇帝シーザーの胸像がローヌ川から発見されました。発見されたのはアルルの町です。この像は現在知られているシーザーの中では一番古い彼の晩年の肖像だそうです。この他にネプチューン像も発見されています。３世紀ごろのものだそうですが、なぜ川底にあったかははっきりしていません。今後調査を進めていく予定だそうです。

The culture ministry said that the life-sized bust is believed to be the oldest of the Roman emperor ever discovered.

It portrays the Roman ruler at an advanced age, with wrinkles and hollows in his face.

Divers from an archaeological team uncovered the bust and a collection of other finds in the Rhone near the town of Arles, which Caesar founded.

Among other items in the treasure trove of ancient objects is a 5.9 foot marble statue of Neptune, dated to the third century.

Two smaller statues, both bronze and measuring 27.5 inches, were also found. One of them, a satyr with his hands tied behind his back, “doubtless” originated in Hellenic Greece, the ministry said.

“Some [of the discoveries] are unique in Europe,” said Christine Albanel, the French culture minister, who added that the bust of Caesar was an outstanding discovery and in a class of its own.

“This marble bust of the founder of the Roman city of Arles constitutes the most ancient representation known today of Caesar,” a ministry statement said, adding that it “undoubtedly” dates to the creation of Arles in 46 B.C.

Among other things, researchers are trying to uncover “in what context these statues were thrown into the river,” said Michel L’Hour, who heads the Department of Subaquatic Archaeological Research, whose divers made the discovery between September and October last year.

The site “has barely been skimmed,” Mr L’Hour said, adding that a new search operation will begin this summer.

He said that with its Roman beginnings, the Rhone and Arles region, in Provence in the southern France, and “propitious” for discoveries.

Miss Albanel called the find “exceptional” and said that the Caesar bust is “the oldest representation known today” of the emperor.

引用元：http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1954876/Divers-find-bust-of-Julius-Caesar-in-Rhone-River.html