Road station
Helellum
Benfeld-Ehl
Helellum was a village of the Triboci where the road south from Strasbourg crossed the Ill, at Ehl near Benfeld. A late Celtic settlement came first, with a bronze foundry and Celtic coins; under Augustus a Roman village grew up along the main road for about a kilometre. It lived chiefly by trade and was guarded by a post of beneficiarii, soldiers on police duty. Finds include statues of gods once built into the church, tiles of the Eighth Legion and a hoard of thousands of bronze coins from the early fourth century. Whether it is the Helvetum of the Roman register of routes is disputed.