France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
Mirebeau is the site of a monumental
castrum
''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...
or fortress for about 5000
Roman legion
The Roman legion (, ) was the largest military List of military legions, unit of the Roman army, composed of Roman citizenship, Roman citizens serving as legionary, legionaries. During the Roman Republic the manipular legion comprised 4,200 i ...
aries. Extensive aerial reconnaissance and excavations since 1964 have shown the extent of the site and its presence of
Legio VIII Augusta
Legio VIII Augusta ("Augustus' Eighth Legion") was one of the oldest legions of the Imperial Roman army.
In republican service
They were ordered to Cisalpine Gaul around 58 BC by Julius Caesar and marched with him throughout the entirety of t ...
. The large camp had stone ramparts with towers, gates, ''principia'' (headquarters) with monumental entrance, storehouses,
thermae
In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...
(thermal baths), an
amphitheatre
An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) 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 ('), meani ...
whose embankments are still visible, and a wharf on the river Bèze. The fort was surrounded by a V-shaped ditch, and later two more ditches were dug on two of the sides.
Tile stamps of the VIIIth Legion show that the camp was built in 70 AD, when the legion arrived with
Vespasian
Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...
in Gaul to oppose the revolts of the
Treveri
The Treveri (Gaulish language, Gaulish: *''Treweroi'') were a Germanic peoples, Germanic or Celts, Celtic tribe of the Belgae group who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle (river), Moselle in modern day Germany from around 150 BCE, if not ea ...
and especially the
Ubii
350px, The Ubii around AD 30
The Ubii were a Germanic tribe first encountered dwelling on the east bank of the Rhine in the time of Julius Caesar, who formed an alliance with them in 55 BC in order to launch attacks across the river. They were ...
and
Lingones
The Lingones (Gaulish: 'the jumpers') were a Gallic tribe of the Iron Age and Roman periods. They dwelled in the region surrounding the present-day city of Langres, between the provinces of Gallia Lugdunensis and Gallia Belgica.
Name
A ...
against Rome. The legion left in 86 at the latest to its next base at
Argentoratum
Argentoratum or Argentorate was the ancient name of the city of Strasbourg. The name was first mentioned in 12 BC, when it was a Roman military outpost established by Nero Claudius Drusus. From 90 AD the Legio VIII Augusta was permanently statio ...
(now
Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
).
Civil
canaba
A (plural ) was the Latin term for a hut or hovel and was later (from the time of Hadrian) used typically to mean a town that emerged as a civilian settlement () in the vicinity of a Roman legionary fortress ().
A settlement that grew up outs ...
e built-up outside the fortress and continued after the army left at the crossroads of ancient roads on the site of the present village, becoming a substantial settlement. A theatre was restored by a Roman citizen's daughter when it was falling into ruin. Upstream an important Celtic and later
Gallo-Roman
Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...
sanctuary had developed.Le camp légionnaire de Mirebeau (Goguey, Reddé, 1995)
Other buildings around the fortress included a
mansio
In the Roman Empire, a ''mansio'' (from the Latin word ''mansus,'' the perfect passive participle of ''manere'' "to remain" or "to stay") was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or ''via'', maintained by the central government for the use ...
, a kind of hotel for state officials.
An underground aqueduct supplying the fortress has been excavated.