City
Augustodunum
Autun
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Augustodunum, today Autun in France, joins the emperor's name to the Celtic word dunon, a fortress: the stronghold of Augustus. Founded under Augustus, it replaced the hilltop town of Bibracte on nearby Mont Beuvray as the chief town of the Aedui, a Gallic people, and grew rich and thoroughly Roman. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus praised its old and mighty walls, parts of which still stand. After a decline, the emperor Constantius Chlorus rebuilt it between 294 and 296 as a colony, and its schools kept it famous for learning. On the map, four roads meet here.