Argentoratum or Argentorate was the antique name of the French city of Strasbourg.

The Romans under Nero Claudius Drusus established a military outpost belonging to the Germania Superior Roman province close to a Gaulish village near the banks of the Rhine, at the current location of Strasbourg, and named it Argentoratum. The site had already been settled almost continuously since about 700,000 BC. The name "Argentoratum" was first mentioned in 12 BC and the city celebrated its 2,000th birthday in 1988; however, "Argentorate" as the toponym of the Gaulish settlement had preceded it before being latinized though it is not known by how long.. As systematic archeological studies between 1947 and 1953, conducted by Jean-Jacques Hatt, archeologist and director of the Musée archéologique de Strasbourg, have shown, Argentoratum was destroyed by fire and rebuilt six times between the first and the fifth century AD: in 70, 97, 235, 355, in the last quarter of the 4th century and in the early years of the 5th century. It was under Trajan and after the fire of 97 that Argentoratum received its most extended and fortified shape. From the year 90 the Legio VIII Augusta was permanently stationed in Argentoratum. The Roman camp of Argentoratum then included a cavalry section and covered an area of approximately , from approximately in Tiberian times. Other Roman legions temporarily stationed in Argentoratum were the Legio XIV Gemina and the Legio XXI Rapax, the latter during the reign of Nero.

The centre of the camp of Argentoratum proper was situated on the Grande Île, with the Cardo being the current Rue du Dôme and the Decumanus, the current Rue des Hallebardes. Many Roman artifacts have also been found along the current Route des Romains in the suburb of Kœnigshoffen, on the road that lead to it. This was were the largest burial places (necropoleis) were situated as well as the densest concentration of civilian dwelling places (vicus) and commerces next to the camp. Among the most outstanding finds in Kœnigshoffen were (found in 1911–12 by Robert Forrer, Hatt's predecessor at the head of the Musée archéologique) the fragments of a grand Mithraeum that had been shattered by early Christians in the fourth century. As it were, from the fourth century, Strasbourg was the seat of the Bishopric of Strasbourg (made an Archbishopric in 1988). Archeological diggings by J.-J. Hatt below the current Église Saint-Étienne in 1948 and 1956 have unearthed the apse of a church dating back to the late 4th century or early 5th century, and considered the oldest church in Alsace. It is supposed that this was the first seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Strasbourg.

The Alemanni fought a Battle of Argentoratum against Rome in 357. They were defeated by Julian, later Emperor of Rome, and their king Chonodomarius was taken prisoner. On 2 January 366 the Alemanni crossed the frozen Rhine in large numbers, to invade the Roman Empire. Early in the fifth century the Alemanni appear to have crossed the Rhine, conquered, and then settled what is today Alsace and a large part of Switzerland. From this period on Argentoratum disappears from historical records and is replaced by the toponym "Stratisburgum".

References

1. "Agentoratum: Des origines à la Pax Romana"
2. Petit historique de Strasbourg
3. Favoured by the destructions the city had suffered, especially from British and American bombings in August 1944.
4. Résultats historiques et topographiques des dernières fouilles de Strasbourg, de 1949 à 1951 ; Les fouilles de Strasbourg et de Seltz en 1952 et 1953
5. Le camp de la Legio VIII Augusta à Strasbourg
6. 4 rue Brûlée
7. Argentorate sous Néron
8. Argentorate : description
9. Argentoratum.com: Les fouilles archéologiques
10. Le vicus et les canabae
11. The Roman Cult of Mithras: The God and His Mysteries
12. Fouilles romaines sous l'église Saint-Étienne à Strasbourg

External links

• www.argentoratum.com
• Histoire de Strasbourg : quand Strasbourg était Argentorate
• Argentorate, Strasbourg, by Jean-Jacques Hatt