THE GREAT ROMAN GAMES

Andra and I were very excited that one of the annual festivals in this area was occurring during our stay in Avignon.  The Great Romans Games took place in Nimes, a short train ride away from Avignon.  The event is an historical re-enactment of the Battle of Phillippi, which was precipitated by the assassination of Julius Caesar and led to the accession of Augustus.  The event took place in the old Roman Amphitheater.

Maybe bullfights took place in this arena at one time, or still do.

Over 400 actors staged this event and there was a grand parade at midday where I think we saw every one of them.  There were chariots, of course.

And a Trojan Horse with some young ladies performing lots of splits.

 

And a cascade of various uniformed troops.

Maybe some Roman senators?

Had they had run short on costumes by the time these young men arrived?

Following the troops were a few lovely women.

In between this parade and the main event, we took in some of the sights at Nimes.

Later in the day, the main event took place inside the amphitheater.  Andra and I were both excited just to be inside the arena.

The opening was pretty spectacular, with a horde of troops marching into the arena in perfect formation.

We were entertained with horseback riding tricks before the battle re-enactment began.

And there was a chariot race.

The Trojan Horse made an appearance, but there was no surprise appearance of soldiers hidden inside,

Then it was like watching World Wide Wrestling, with one fake "face-off" after another.

We got a little bored at this point and decided to leave so we could catch the earlier train back to Avignon.

This was our last day at our lovely apartment in Avignon, and we were sorry to leave it.