Aix

AIX, city of south-east France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Bouches-du-Rhone, 18m. N. of Marseille. Pop. 25,108. It is situated in a plain overlooking the Arc, about a mile from the right bank of the river. Aix (Aquae Sextiae) was founded in 123 B.C., by the Roman consul Sextius Calvinus. In 102 B.C. it was the scene of the defeat of the Cimbri and Teutones by Marius. In the 4th century it became the metropolis of Narbonensis Secunda. Occupied by Visigoths in 477, and repeatedly plundered by Franks and Lombards, it was taken by Saracens in 731. During the middle ages it was the capital of the county of Provence and reached its zenith after the 12th century, when the houses of Aragon and Anjou made it an artistic centre and seat of learning. It passed with Provence to the crown in 1487, and had the parlement of Provence (1501 1789). In the 17th and 18th centuries it was the seat of the intendance of Provence.

The Cours Mirabeau divides the town into the new town to the south and the old town to the north. Aix is the seat of the faculties of law and letters of the University of Aix-Marseille. The cathedral of St. Sauveur dates from the 11 12 th and 13th centuries. It has a rich Gothic portal with elaborately carved doors. The archbishop's palace and a Romanesque cloister ad join the cathedral on its south side. The church of St. Jean de Malte (13th century), contains valuable pictures. The hotel de ville (17th century) contains fine wood-work and a large library with valuable mss. Aix has thermal springs, remarkable for their heat and containing lime and carbonic acid; baths have been built (17o5) near the site of the Roman baths. The industries include flour-milling, the making of confectionery, the manufac ture of hats and the preparation of olive-oil. Trade is in olive-oil, almonds and flour.

The town, which is the seat of an archbishop and court of ap peal and the centre of an academie, has a court of assizes, tribu nal of commerce, and a chamber of arts and manufactures. It also has museums of antiquities, natural history and painting, and several learned societies.

Aix, Battle of

(Aquae Sextiae).—After the Roman disaster at Arausio (q.v.) in o5 B.C. the great migration of the Cimbri and Teutones turned aside to Spain, thus enabling Marius (q.v.) to gain breathing space to organize and train his "new model" army. But in 102 B.C., returning to Gaul, these tribes moved to invade Italy, the Cimbri going round the north of the Alpine barrier and the Teutones by the Mediterranean coast. On their approach Marius entrenched himself and refused to be drawn out to battle, content to repulse their assault and to acclimatize his men to the sight and ways of their strange and terrifying foe. When the host passed onwards, Marius cautiously followed until on reaching Aquae Sextiae, now Aix, 20M. N. of Marseille, a partial engagement was brought on by the common desire to gain possession of the only available water supply. The Romans were successful and after a two days' pause, Marius judged the mo ment ripe for battle, having detached a force of 3,000 men to take up a concealed position on the enemy's flank. His cavalry and light infantry were then used to draw out the Teutones to attack, which Marius awaited on the slope of a hill. This first onslaught was stopped with difficulty, but gradually the Romans pressed their assailants downhill. Before the Teutones could re form on the level, they were struck in rear by the flank detach ment, and their very numbers then intensified the press and their difficulty. The disaster was so complete that not merely the menace but the tribe itself was dispersed.

See Henry Bordeaux, La Valle d'Aix (1920 ; M. A. E. Clerc, Aquae Sextiae (1916).