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Burgundy
Autun
Roman theatre of Autun, the largest in Gaul
Autun was founded under the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus (- 27; 14) : its old name is Augustodunum which means "fortress of Augustus". This last one wanted to create a big city in Gaulle to show the Roman power.
Augustodunum was thus equipped with splendid monuments which give it its notoriety today : an enclosure of 6 km, with many towers, three from the four original gates ; a Roman theatre with a capacity of 20.000 people ; a disappeared amphitheatre ; a channel built to transport the wood of the Morvan region ; The temple dedicated to Janus.
The creation of Autun attracted the surrounding populations and in particular the inhabitants of Bibracte, oppidum Eduen, which fell little by little out of memory.
Autun was famous for its school of rhetoric. In the IIIth century, it was besieged for seven months then destroyed by Victorinus in 270, it was rebuilt the next century by Constantinus.