Mediolanum Santonum was a Roman town in
Gallia Aquitania
Gallia Aquitania ( , ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France, where it gives its name to the modern region of Aquitaine. It was bordered by the provinces of Gallia ...
, now
Saintes. It was founded in about 20 BC in connection with an expansion of the network of
Roman road
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
s serving
Burdigala
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture o ...
. The name means 'centre of the
Santones
The Santoni or Santones ( grc, Σαντόνων, Σάντονες) were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the later region of Saintonge during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Name
These people are noted as ''Santonum'', ''Santonos'' and ''Santoni ...
', the tribe that then inhabited the area; the town became an important center in the Roman province of Gallia Aquitania.
Monuments
The principal extant monuments of the Roman period are:
*a Roman
city gate
A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway.
Uses
City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...
now called the
Arch of Germanicus
:''There was also an Arch of Drusus and Germanicus, made up of two arches built in 19 in honour of Nero Claudius Drusus and Germanicus either side of the Temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum of Augustus, in honour of their German campaigns.''
The Arc ...
*a fairly large Roman lapidary collection
*a large
amphitheatre
An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
Gallery
Drussus 03251.JPG, Bust
Arc de Germanicus.JPG, Arch of Germanicus
:''There was also an Arch of Drusus and Germanicus, made up of two arches built in 19 in honour of Nero Claudius Drusus and Germanicus either side of the Temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum of Augustus, in honour of their German campaigns.''
The Arc ...
Saintes amphitheatre.jpg, The amphitheatre
An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
Structures roman amphitheatre Saintes Charente-Maritime.jpg, Close up of the vomitoria of the Roman amphitheatre
Deambulatory north Saint-Eutropius romanesque Basilica Saintes Charente-Maritime.jpg, Deambulatory north Saint-Eutropius romanesque Basilica Saintes Charente-Maritime
References
;Bibliography
*
20s BC establishments in the Roman Empire
Populated places established in the 1st century BC
Roman towns and cities in France
Santones
Gallia Aquitania
Saintes, Charente-Maritime
{{Poitou-geo-stub