Deux-Sèvres
Deux-Sèvres (, Poitevin-Saintongese: ''Deùs Saevres'') is a French department. ''Deux-Sèvres'' literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department. It had a ...
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 ...
.Commune de Rom (79230) INSEE
It was the Roman settlement of ''Rauranum'', located at a ford on a little river on the Roman road between Limonum (
Poitiers
Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...
) and Santonum ( Saintes), according to the Antonine Itinerary. At this posting stage or relay stage (''mutatio''), fresh horses could be found. It lay in the part of
Gaul
Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...
Late Antiquity
Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...
. The Roman site, first rediscovered through
aerial photography
Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography.
Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wi ...
, is famous for its inscription to Epona. The streets of this '' vicus'' were paved with stone, its roofs covered with platelike terracotta tiles. Stone drums that once composed columns have been recovered in fields near the present parish church and built into the wall of its cemetery. Finds from excavations are presented in a format designed for children in the Musée de Rauranum, place de l'Église.
Geography
Rom is a commune situated in the south-eastern part of Deux-Sévres, in the canton of Celles-sur-Belle. It is 50 km away from Niort. The river Dive (also: "Dive du Sud"), a tributary of the Clain, passes through the commune.