My Photos: Mosaics -- France -- Nîmes -- Musée Archéologique

The symbol of the city of Nîmes is a crocodile chained to a palm tree.  I found these images everywhere while I wandered around the city.  Here's what I was able to learn about the symbol's origin:  when Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus conquered Egypt in 31 BC, he rewarded his troops with land in the Roman colony Nemausus -- Nîmes.  At that time, a coin was struck depicting a crocodile chained to a palm tree, apparently to symbolize Rome's conquest of Egypt. The Archaeological Museum holds a few mosaic pavement fragments.  It also contains a nice collection of Greek Black-Figure and Red-Figure vases. Three interesting and unique black and white mosaic panels.  Very different from anything I have seen.  However, I could find no information on these mosaics.  The museum is currently in the process of moving to a new space, and much of the collection is off display until that move in 2018.   All photos are copyright protected property of  Brenda Pokorny unless otherwise noted. If you would like permission for use, please contact me.