I was easily
reconciled to this by the opportunity thus afforded of a visit to the
ancient city of Vienne, which well repays inspection. Its history is a
perfect quarry of renowned names, Roman, Burgundian, and ecclesiastical.
Tiberius Gracchus left his mark upon the city, by bridling the
Rhone--_impatiens pontis_--with the earliest bridge in Gaul: and here
tradition has it that the great Pompey loved magnificently one of his
many loves; while the site of the Praetorium in which Pontius Pilate is
said to have given judgment can still be pointed out. The true Mount
Pilate lies between Vienne and Lyons, being one of the loftiest
northern summits of the Cevennes, on the borders of the Lyonnaise.[84]
The Romans recognised the fitness of the neighbourhood of Vienne for the
cultivation of the grape, and the first vine in Gaul was planted on the
Mont d'Or in the second century of the Christian era. In Burgundian
times the city held a very prominent place, and became infamous from the
frequent shedding of royal blood; so that early historians describe it
as '_tousiours fatale a ceux qui vueillent la corone des
Bourgougnons,'[85]_ and as '_fatale et de malencotre aux tyras et
mauvais princes.
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