CAESARODU´NUM
CAESARODU´NUM (
Καισαπόδουνον, Ptol.:
Tours), the chief town of the Turones or Turoni, a Celtic people in the basin of the
Loire. Caesar mentions the Turones, but names no town.
It is first mentioned by Ptolemy; and the same name, Caesarodunum, occurs in the Table; but it is called in the Notitia of the provinces of Gallia “civitas Turonorum,” whence the modern name of
Tours. The identity of Caesarodunum and
Tours is proved by the four roads to this place from
Bourges, Poitiers, Orlèans, and
Angers. The modern town is on the south bank of the
Loire, and the ancient town seems to have been on the same site, though this opinion is not universally received.
There are no Roman remains at
Tours, except, it is said, some fragments of the ancient walls.
[
G.L]