Rom, Deux-Sèvres

Rom is a commune in the département of Deux-Sèvres, France.

It was the Roman settlement of "Rauranum", located at a ford on a little river on the Roman road between Limonum (Poitiers) and Santonum (Saintes), according to the Antonine Itinerary. At this posting stage or relay stage ("mutatio"), fresh horses could be found. It lay in the part of Gaul that became Aquitania in Late Antiquity. The Roman site, first rediscovered through aerial photography, is famous for its inscription to Epona.The streets of this "vicus" were paved with stone, its roofs covered with platelike terracotta tiles. Stone drums that once composed columns have been recovered in fields near the present parish church and built into the walling of its cemetery. Finds from excavations are presented in a format designed for children in the Musée de Rauranum, place de l'Église.

External links

* [http://www.sc.edu/ltantsoc/raur0359.htm Rauranum] Brief entry.
* [http://hebergement.ac-poitiers.fr/e-ep-montigny/Autres/La%20Gaule%20Romaine.pdf "La Gaule Romaine: enquête et compte-rendu du village de Rom"] (pdf file)
* [http://www.paysmellois.org/article.php3?id_article=119 Musée de Rauranum]