City
Subdinnum
Le Mans
Listen to the story
Subdinnum lies beneath the old town of Le Mans in France, once the capital of the Gaulish Cenomani, whose tribal name eventually passed to the modern city. The geographer Ptolemy calls the town Vindinon, and scholars have long wondered whether a copyist of his text swallowed an initial letter, so that both forms go back to one name. The map marks only three roads leaving the town, towards Jublains, Chartres and Tours, while archaeology points to at least nine. Its late Roman wall, set with high half-round towers, is among the best preserved in Gaul.