Vesontio

The Porte Noire in Besançon, ancient Vesontio: a Roman triumphal arch of the 2nd century AD.

Vesontio, today’s Besançon. In AD 68 Verginius Rufus was besieging the town when Vindex came to its relief. The commanders reportedly came to an understanding, but Verginius’s soldiers attacked without orders and routed the Gauls. Vindex took his own life, and the legions wanted to make Verginius emperor (Cassius Dio 63.24–25).

Sources

  • Image: Lantus (photo), 2018, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

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