Cenabum , Gaul (sometimes written Cenabaum or Genabum ) was the name of the capital city of the Carnutes , located near the present French city of Orléans . Cenabum was an oppidum and a thriving commercial town on the Loire river.
24-592: In 52 BC , during the Gallic Wars , the town was taken by Roman general Julius Caesar and integrated into the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis . Acts of resistance from the locals who refused to submit to Roman law were severely repressed and resulted in several massacres and the near-total destruction of the town. In the 3rd century , emperor Aurelian visited Cenabum and decided to have it rebuilt (273-274), and named it after himself: Urbs Aurelianorum . In
48-715: A bridge over the Loire, one of considerable economic and strategic importance, attested to have been built before the Roman conquest. Strabo , in his Geography , calls the city (Κήναβον) the ' emporium of the Carnutes (τὸ τῶν Καρνούντον ἑμπόριον ). Kenabon/Cenabum is probably a transcription of a Gallic word with the same sense. The town also appears on the Tabula Peutingeriana , the Antonine Itinerary and
72-770: Is known as the Military Monarchy as a result. The system fell apart in the 230s , giving way to a fifty-year period known as the Military Anarchy or the Crisis of the Third Century , following the assassination of the 28-year-old emperor Severus Alexander (the last emperor of the Severan dynasty), where no fewer than twenty emperors held the reins of power, most for only a few months. The majority of these men were assassinated, or killed in battle, and
96-636: Is still disputed. The Fall of the Roman Empire , beginning in 476 AD , coincided with a time of economic crisis and the christianization of the local population. Saint Euverte d'Orléans was one of the first bishops of the city. The independence of the Romans of Aurelianorum ended in 498 AD , when the city was conquered by the Germanic people of the Salian Franks and eventually brought into
120-527: The 9th century , it took the name Aurelianum , the name later evolved into Orléans . In 498 , the city was conquered by Germanic invaders, the Salian Franks and brought into the kingdom of Merovingian king Clovis I . Cenabum was the most important towns of the Carnutes, its port was the commercial outlet for the grain they produced in the Beauce , north-west of the town. The town had strong fortifications, dry moats, earth palisades and also controlled
144-605: The Alans , cross the Loire. One of their groups, led by Goar , accepts to join the Romans. Aetius settles on the Loire and in Orléans around 440 AD. According to Constantius of Lyon , a Gallic scholar, Aetius did so to punish a local uprising. The Alans are seen as unruly by the locals, and their settling in the region often results in land confiscation and eviction of the local people. Goar settles in Aurelianorum itself, while
168-567: The Gallic Empire in the west and the Palmyrene Empire in the east, which all together threatened to destroy the Roman Empire in its entirety, but the reconquests of the seceded territories by Emperor Aurelian and the stabilization period under Emperor Diocletian due to the administrative strengthening of the empire caused an end to the crisis by 284. This crisis would also mark the beginning of Late Antiquity . In Persia ,
192-618: The Ohio River valley declined in favor of the Hopewell culture . The Maya civilization entered its Classic Era . After the death of Commodus in the late previous century the Roman Empire was plunged into a civil war. When the dust settled, Septimius Severus emerged as emperor, establishing the Severan dynasty. Unlike previous emperors, he openly used the army to back his authority, and paid them well to do so. The regime he created
216-637: The Parthian Empire was succeeded by the Sassanid Empire in 224 after Ardashir I defeated and killed Artabanus V during the Battle of Hormozdgan . The Sassanids then went on to subjugate many of the western portions of the declining Kushan Empire . In China , the chaos that had been raging since 189 would ultimately continue to persist with the decisive defeat of Cao Cao at the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208, which would increasingly end
240-747: The Sima clan , who would usurp Wei in 266, and conquer Wu in 280. In other parts of the world, Korea was ruled by the Three Kingdoms of Korea . Japan entered the Kofun period . The Southeast Asian mainland was mostly dominated by Funan , the first kingdom of the Khmer people . In India , the Gupta Empire was on the rise towards the end of the century. In Pre-Columbian America , the Adena culture of
264-572: The Roman merchants who had established themselves at Cenabum, the overseer Gaius Fufius Cita whom Caesar had installed to control commerce and to ensure his legions' grain supply, and some Roman troops garrisoning the town were all massacred or thrown into the Loire by the Carnutes who had stormed the city. This uprising triggered Caesar's seventh Gallic campaign. In 52 BC, Caesar marched back into Gaul and reached Agedincum . His Roman legions reached Cenabum but they did not even need to besiege it. On his approach, its population attempted to flee by crossing
SECTION 10
#1732766190810288-518: The Romans. However, Tasgestios' rule came to an end after two years, when in 54 BC he was assassinated. Caesar sent Lucius Munatius Plancus to restore order in Cenabum, punish those responsible and ordered the occupation of Cenabum by the Roman legions. It was Cenabum that gave the signal for the Gallic revolt, first led by Cotuatos, then Conconnetodumnos and eventually Vercingetorix . In 53 BC ,
312-533: The bridge linking the two banks of the Loire ;; whilst the people tried to cross the narrow wooden bridge, the Romans scaled the ramparts. The remaining inhabitants were captured and the town was pillaged and burned down. The Gutuater (considered to be a Carnuti representative whose role is thought to be linked to ' invocation ' by modern historians) was found guilty of the uprising and executed. Before leaving Cenabum, Caesar put Caius Trebonius in charge of
336-458: The city and left him two Roman legions to keep the ruined city under Roman control. The town and its regions were integrated into the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis . Around 260 AD , Cenabum was pillaged first by the Alemanni and then by other Germanic peoples after them. Cenabum stayed a ruin until 273 AD , when the 38th Roman emperor Aurelian visited the town. Starting around
360-424: The empire almost collapsed under the weight of the political upheaval, as well as the growing Persian threat in the east. Under its new Sassanid rulers, Persia had grown into a rival superpower, and the Romans would have to make drastic reforms in order to better prepare their state for a confrontation. These reforms were finally realized late in the century under the reign of Diocletian , one of them being to divide
384-508: The ground up. He detaches it from the Carnutes' territories and gives this new city the name Urbs Aurelianorum ( i.e. city of the Aurelii ) and its inhabitants are Civitas Aurelianorum . New ramparts are raised, a dry moat now surrounds the city. To the south, the ramparts are built closest to the riverside, so as to prevent attacks from the Loire. In 408 AD , the Vandals , along with
408-455: The hopes of unification and lead to the tripartite division of China into three main empires; Shu , Wu , and Wei , colloquially known as the Three Kingdoms period, which started in 220 with the formal abdication of Emperor Xian of Han to Cao Cao's son, Cao Pi , thereby founding Wei, which would go on to conquer Shu in 263, but would ultimately be united again under the Jin dynasty , headed by
432-806: The kingdom of Clovis I , king of the Franks , heir to the Merovingian dynasty . In 511 AD, the First Council of Orléans took place, summoning 32 bishops from across Gaul, to establish a strong relationship between Merovingian rule and the (Roman) Catholic episcopate. The city had no import in Gallic conciliar affairs, but over the Merovingian period, it was to become a prominent meeting place for national church councils. 47°54′09″N 1°54′32″E / 47.9025°N 1.9090°E / 47.9025; 1.9090 52 BC Year 52 BC
456-517: The mid 3rd century , peoples from Asia and Central Europe began to invade the Roman Empire. The Franks and the Alemanni cross the līmitēs of the Rhin in 275-276 AD and sweep through Gaul. Starting around 235 AD , the Roman emperors are incapable of restoring peace. Around 273 AD , in an effort to prevent the barbarian incursions from going further into Gaul, emperor Aurelian rebuilds the town from
480-557: The rest of his people settle in the rest of the region (i.e. modern Orléanais ). Indeed, numerous archeological finds linked to the Alans have been found in the northern part of the region and in northern France: Allaines , Allainville , Alaincourt . In 451 AD , king and chieftain of the Hunnic Empire Attila laid siege to Aurelianorum and was defeated there by an alliance between Aetius, Merovech and Theodoric I . In
504-493: The same year, the king of the Alans still resided in Aurelianorum, known then as Sangiban . Under his command, the Alans join forces with Aetius in opposing Attila and his conquest of Gaul, and they take part in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains . However, according to ancient historian Jordanes , Sangiban initially tried to betray the Romans and surrender Aurelianorum to Attila, but the veracity of this intention
SECTION 20
#1732766190810528-654: The works of the Roman mathematician Ptolemy . In 58 BC , Roman general Julius Caesar began the Gallic Wars in an effort to bring the rest of Gaul into the Roman Empire and expand West. For the Romans, it was imperative to gain control over this strategic location. Caesar eventually succeeded in establishing a protectorate over the Carnutes by allying himself with the leader of an ancient Carnuti family named Tasgetios . Caesar re-established him on his ancestors' throne in return for helping him take Cenabum. The town and its regions then became an important supplier of grain for
552-626: Was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar . At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pompeius and Scipio (or, less frequently, year 702 Ab urbe condita ). The denomination 52 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. 3rd century The 3rd century
576-614: Was the period from AD 201 (represented by the Roman numerals CCI) to AD 300 (CCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. In this century, the Roman Empire saw a crisis , starting with the assassination of the Roman Emperor Severus Alexander in 235, plunging the empire into a period of economic troubles, barbarian incursions, political upheavals, civil wars, and the split of the Roman Empire through
#809190