River
Fluvius Varum
Var
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Where the Via Aurelia meets a river on the Tabula, the map writes Fluvius Varum, the Var, which reaches the sea between Antibes and Nice in southern France. Roman writers treated it as the border between Gaul and Italy, and the geographer Mela remarks that it was better known than its neighbour for exactly that reason. Caesar discharged part of his army on its banks in 49 BC. The map carries a curious slip: the Alpine crest ends too far west, so the river lands east of the mountains. At the crossing stands a road station called Varum, perhaps the bridge itself.