Editing Lugdunum

{{Short description|Ancient Roman city on the site of modern Lyon, France}}
{{About|the city in Gaul}}
{{Infobox ancient site
 |name = Lugdunum
 |native_name = Colonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugdunum
 |alternate_name = 
 |image = Schéma - Lyon époque romaine - avec nécropoles - voies romaines - constructions - Lugdunum.jpg
 |alt = 
 |caption = Map of the city
 |map_type = France#France Rhône-Alpes
 |map_size = 
 |relief = 
 |map_caption = Location within France
 |coordinates = {{coord|45|45|35|N|4|49|10|E|display=inline,title}}
 |location = [[Lyon]], France
 |region = [[Gallia Lugdunensis]]
 |type = Roman city
 |part_of = 
 |length = 
 |width = 
 |area = 200 hectares
 |height = 
 |builder = [[Lucius Munatius Plancus]]
 |material = 
 |built = 43&nbsp;BC
 |abandoned = 
 |epochs = [[Roman Republic]] to [[Roman Empire]]
 |cultures = 
 |dependency_of = 
 |occupants = 
 |event = 
 |excavations = 
 |archaeologists = 
 |condition = 
 |ownership = 
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}}

'''Lugdunum''' (also spelled '''Lugudunum''', {{IPA|la|ɫʊɡ(ʊ)ˈduːnʊ̃ː|lang}};<ref>{{cite book |language=fr |last=Gaffiot |first=Félix |date=1934 |title=Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français |place=Paris |publisher=Librairie Hachette |page=926 |url=https://www.lexilogos.com/latin/gaffiot.php?q=lugdunum}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=May 2023}}<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Pinkster|editor-first=Harm|title=Woordenboek Latijn/Nederlands.|edition=7th revised|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|location=Amsterdam|year=2018|isbn=9789463720519}}</ref> modern [[Lyon]], [[France]]) was an important [[Colonia (Roman)|Roman city]] in [[Gaul]], established on the current site of [[Lyon, France|Lyon]]. 

The Roman city was founded in 43&nbsp;BC by [[Lucius Munatius Plancus]], but continued an existing Gallic settlement with a likely population of several thousands. It served as the capital of the [[Roman province]] of [[Gallia Lugdunensis]] and was an important city in the western half of the Roman Empire for centuries. Two emperors, [[Claudius]] and [[Caracalla]], were born in Lugdunum. In the period 69–192&nbsp;AD, the city's population may have numbered 50,000 to 100,000, and possibly up to 200,000 inhabitants.<ref>{{Google books |id=Cx80od-iZfgC |page=9 |title=Travel Lyon, France: Illustrated Guide, Phrasebook & Maps }}.</ref><ref>{{Google books |id=AT15oYY762wC |page=388 |title=The Roman Remains of Northern and Eastern France: A Guidebook }}.</ref><ref>{{Google books |id=polg8REJ7bAC |page=176 |title=Roman Cities }}.</ref><ref>{{Google books |id=polg8REJ7bAC |page=335 |title=Roman Cities }}.</ref>

The original Roman city was situated west of the confluence of the [[Rhône River|Rhône]] and [[Saône]], on the [[Fourvière]] heights. By the late centuries of the empire much of the population was located in the Saône River valley at the foot of Fourvière.

==Name==
The Roman city was founded as ''Colonia Copia Felix Munatia'', a name invoking prosperity and the blessing of the gods. The city became increasingly referred to as ''Lugdunum'' (and occasionally ''Lugudunum''<ref name=":0">Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'', 46.50.4.</ref>) by the end of the 1st century AD. During the [[Middle Ages]], ''Lugdunum'' was transformed to ''Lyon'' by natural sound change.

''Lugdunum'' is a Latinization of the [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] ''*Lugudunon'', meaning "Fortress (or hill) of (the god) ''Lugus''" or, alternately, "Fortress of the champion" (if ''*lugus'' is a common noun cognate with [[Old Irish]] {{Lang|sga|lug}} "warrior, hero, fighter").

The Celtic god [[Lugus]] was apparently popular in [[Ireland]] and [[Great Britain|Britain]] as is found in [[medieval Irish literature]] as ''[[Lugh|Lug(h)]]'' and in [[medieval Welsh literature]] as [[Lleu Llaw Gyffes|Lleu]] (also spelled Llew).

According to [[Pseudo-Plutarch]], Lugdunum takes its name from an otherwise unattested Gaulish word ''lugos'', that he says means "raven" (κόρακα), and the Gaulish word for an eminence or high ground (τόπον ἐξέχοντα), ''dunon''.<ref>Delattre, Charles (ed.), ''Pseudo-Plutarque. De fluviorum et montium nominibus et de iis quae in illis inveniuntur'', Presses Univ. Septentrion, 2011, pp. 109–111 {{in lang|la}}.</ref>

An early interpretation of Gaulish ''Lugduno'' as meaning "Desired Mountain" is recorded in a gloss in the 9th-century [[Endlicher's Glossary]],<ref>''Lugduno desiderato monte: dunum enim montem'' Lugduno: "desired mountain"; because dunum is mountain" in [http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/endlicher_glossary.html Endlicher Glossary].</ref> but this may in fact reflect a native [[Frankish language|Frankish]] speaker's [[folk-etymology|folk-etymological]] attempt at linking the first element of the name, ''Lugu-'' (which, by the time this gloss was composed, would have been pronounced ''lu'u'', the -g- having become silent) with the similar-sounding Germanic word for "love", ''*luβ''.<ref>Toorians, Lauran, "Endlicher's Glossary, an attempt to write its history", in: García Alonso (Juan Luis) (ed.), ''Celtic and other languages in ancient Europe'' (2008), pp. 153–184.</ref>

Another early medieval folk-etymology of the name, found in gloss on the Latin poet [[Juvenal]], connects the element Lugu- to the Latin word for "light", {{Lang|la|lux}} (''luci''- in compounds) and translates the name as "Shining Hill" (''lucidus mons'').<ref>"Lugdunum est civitas Gallie quasi lucidum dunam, id est lucidus mons, dunam enim in Greco mons." in Andreas Hofeneder, ''Die Religion der Kelten in den antiken literarischen Zeugnissen'': Sammlung, Übersetzung und Kommentierung, Volume 2, Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2008, pp. 571–572 {{in lang|de}}.</ref>

==Pre-Roman settlements and the area before the founding of the city==
[[File:Lyon murus 1.jpg|thumb|Gallic [[Murus Gallicus]], Lyon, [[La Tène culture]]]]
[[File:Gaul in the Time of Caesar.jpg|thumb|The site of Lugdunum along the border of [[Gallia Celtica|pre-Roman Gaul]] and the [[Roman province]] of [[Gallia Narbonensis]] in the south of modern-day France during the lifetime of [[Julius Caesar]]]]
 
Archeological evidence<ref>Mathieu Poux, Hugues Savay-Guerraz, ''Lyon avant Lugdunum'', Infolio éditions, 2003, p. 151 {{in lang|fr}}, {{ISBN|2-88474-106-2}}.</ref> shows Lugdunum was a pre-[[Gaul|Gallic]] settlement as far back as the [[Neolithic]] era, and a [[Gallia Celtica|Gallic]] settlement with continuous occupation from the 4th century BC, during the [[La Tène culture|La Tène]] period. It was situated on the [[Fourvière]] heights above the [[Saône]] river. There was trade with [[Campania]] for ceramics and wine, and use of some Italic-style home furnishings before the Roman conquest.

The Romans controlled the [[Roman Gaul|southern portion of Gaul]] by the 2nd century BC, founding the province of [[Gallia Transalpina]] in 121&nbsp;BC.<ref name=maddy>{{citation |last=Maddison |first=Angus |title=Contours of the World Economy 1–2030&nbsp;AD: Essays in Macro-Economic History |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=a-JGGp2suQUC&pg=PT41 41] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-JGGp2suQUC |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2007 |isbn=9780191647581 }}.</ref> Gaul was conquered for the Romans by [[Julius Caesar]] between 58 and 53&nbsp;[[Anno Domini|BC]]. His description of the country in his ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico|De Bello Gallico]]'' is our principal written source of knowledge for pre-Roman Gaul, but there is no specific mention of the area in or around Lugdunum.

==Founding of the Roman city==
Roman colonization of Lugdunum began during the [[War of Mutina]], one of the conflicts that followed the [[assassination of Julius Caesar]] in 44&nbsp;BC. According to the historian [[Cassius Dio]], in 43&nbsp;BC the [[Roman Senate]] ordered [[Lucius Munatius Plancus|Munatius Plancus]] and [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)|Lepidus]], governors of central and [[Transalpine Gaul]] respectively, to found a city for a group of Roman refugees who had been expelled from [[Vienne, Isere|Vienne]] (a town about {{convert|30|km|mi|-1|abbr=in|disp=or}} to the south) by the [[Allobroges]] and were encamped at the confluence of the Saône and Rhône rivers. Dio Cassius says this was to keep them from joining [[Mark Antony]] and bringing their armies into the developing conflict.<ref name=":0" /> [[Epigraphic]] evidence suggests Munatius Plancus was the principal founder of Lugdunum.{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}

Lugdunum seems to have had a population of several thousand at the time of the Roman foundation. The citizens were administratively assigned to the [[Galerian tribe]]. The aqueduct of the [[:fr:Aqueduc des monts d'Or|Monts d'Or]], completed around 20&nbsp;BC, was the first of at least four [[Roman aqueduct|aqueducts]] supplying water to the city.

Within 50 years Lugdunum increased greatly in size and importance, becoming the administrative centre of Roman [[Gaul]] and [[Germany]]. By the end of the reign of [[Augustus]], [[Strabo]] described Lugdunum as the junction of four major roads (the ''[[Via Agrippa]]''): south to [[Narbonensis]], [[Massilia]] and [[Italy]], north to the [[Rhine river]] and Germany, northwest to the sea (the [[English Channel]]), and west to [[Aquitania]].

The proximity to the frontier with Germany made Lugdunum strategically important for the next four centuries, as a staging ground for further Roman expansion into Germany, as well as the ''de facto'' capital city and administrative centre of the Gallic provinces. Its large and cosmopolitan population made it the commercial and financial heart of the northwestern provinces as well.

Lugdunum became an imperial [[Coin mints|mint]] during the reign of [[Augustus]], in 15&nbsp;BC, replacing mints in [[Hispania]]. It was probably chosen because of its convenient location between sources of silver and gold in Hispania and the legions on the [[Rhine]] and [[Danube]]. After 12&nbsp;BC, it was the sole mint producing gold and silver coinage for the whole Roman Empire, a position it retained until [[Nero]] moved production back to Rome in 64&nbsp;AD.<ref name="Cambridge University Press">{{cite book |last1=Duncan-Jones |first1=Richard |title=Money and government in the Roman empire |date=1994 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-44192-6 |pages=99–100}}</ref><ref name="Oxford University Press">{{cite book |last1=Wolters|editor1-last=Metcalf |editor1-first=William E. |chapter=The Julio-Claudians|title=The Oxford handbook of Greek and Roman coinage |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-530574-6 |pages=336–340}}</ref>

==Attention from the emperors==
[[File:Lyon 5 - Théâtre antique de Fourvière 01.jpg|thumb|[[Ancient Theatre of Fourvière]]]]
In its 1st century, Lugdunum was many times the object of attention or visits by the emperors or the imperial family, with its matrimonial regime of power using killing family members{{clarify|reason=What does this sentence mean?|date=November 2024}}<!--Musée des Beaux-Arts special exhibition 'L'empereur Claude'-->. [[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa|Agrippa]], [[Nero Claudius Drusus|Drusus]], [[Tiberius]], and [[Germanicus]] (born himself in Lugdunum) were among the gubernatorial generals who served in Lugdunum. Augustus is thought to have visited at least three times between 16 and 8&nbsp;BC. Drusus lived in Lugdunum between 13 and 9&nbsp;BC. In 10&nbsp;BC his son [[Claudius]] (the future emperor) was born there. Tiberius stopped in Lugdunum in 5–4&nbsp;BC, on his way to the Rhine, and again in 21&nbsp;AD, campaigning against the [[Andecavi]]. [[Caligula]] made a longer visit in 39–40, as documented by [[Lives of the Twelve Caesars|Suetonius]]. [[Claudius]] and [[Nero]] also contributed to the city's importance and growth.

In 12&nbsp;BC, Drusus completed an administrative census of the area and dedicated an altar to his stepfather Augustus at the junction of the two rivers. Perhaps to promote a policy of conciliation and integration, all the notable men of the three parts of Gaul were invited. [[Caius Julius Vercondaridubnus]], a member of the [[Aedui]] tribe, was installed as the first [[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#sacerdos|priest]] of the new [[Imperial cult (Ancient Rome)|imperial cult]] sanctuary, which was subsequently known as the Junction Sanctuary or the [[Sanctuary of the Three Gauls]]. The [[altar]], with its distinctive vertical end poles, was engraved with the names of 60 Gallic tribes, and was featured prominently on coins from the Lugdunum mint for many years. The "council of the three Gauls" continued to be held annually for nearly three centuries, even after Gaul was divided into [[Roman province|provinces]].

[[File:Amphiteatre Trois Gaules Lyon.jpg|thumb|[[Amphithéâtre des Trois-Gaules]] in Lyon]]

Southeastern Gaul became increasingly Romanized. By 19&nbsp;AD at least one [[Roman temple|temple]], and the first amphitheatre in Gaul (now known as the Amphitheatre of the Three Gauls) had been built down the slopes of the Croix-Rousse hill, next to the Vaise district where Gallic workers worked with precious metals, copper and also glass or pottery on both sides of the Saône lived (the space between Rhone and Saône was a swamp often flooded)
.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Pelletier|first1=Jean|last2=Delfante|first2=Charles|title=Atlas historique du Grand-Lyon|publisher=Editions Xavier Lejeune-Libris|year=2004|page=34-42}}</ref>

In 48&nbsp;AD, emperor Claudius asked the Senate to grant the notable men of the three Gauls the right to accede to the Senate.
His request was granted and an engraved bronze plaque of the speech (the ''Claudian Tables'') was erected in Lugdunum. 
Today, the pieces of the huge plaque are the pride of the [[Gallo-Roman Museum, Lyon|Gallo-Roman Museum]] in Lyon.

Caligula spent time in Lugdunum in 39–40&nbsp;AD, at the beginning of his third [[consul]]ate; the historian Suetonius described the visit as characteristic of this emperor's strange and extravagant reign. Spectacles were staged at the amphitheater to honor and entertain Caligula and his guest, [[Ptolemy of Mauretania|Ptolemy]], king of [[Mauretania]] (whom the emperor later had murdered). A rhetoric contest was held in which the losers were required to expunge their work with their tongues. He auctioned furniture brought from the palace in Rome, assigning prices and purchasers.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} When Caligula wanted to get rid of [[Herod Antipas]], Jewish [[Herodian tetrarchy|tetrarch]] of [[Galilee]] and [[Perea (region)|Perea]], he sent him to exile in Lugdunum.<ref>{{Citation |last=Henten |first=Jan W. van |title=Herod (2) Antipas |date=2016-03-07 |work=Oxford Classical Dictionary |url=https://oxfordre.com/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-3060 |access-date=2024-06-24 |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.3060 |isbn=978-0-19-938113-5|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[File:Table_Claudienne.jpg|thumb|[[Lyon Tablet|Claudian Tables]] in museum]]
[[Claudius]] was born in Lugdunum in 10&nbsp;BC and lived there for at least two years. As emperor, he returned in 43&nbsp;AD en route to his conquest of [[Britannia|Britain]] and stopped again after its victorious conclusion in 47. A fountain honoring his victory has been uncovered. He continued to take a supportive interest in the town, making its noblemen eligible to serve in the Roman Senate, as described above.

During Claudius' reign, the city's strategic importance was enhanced by the bridging of the Rhône river. Its depth and swampy valley had been an obstacle to travel and communication to the east. The new route, termed the ''compendium'', shortened the route south to
[[Vienne, Isère|Vienne]] and made the roads from Lugdunum to Italy and Germany more direct. By the end of his reign, the city's official name had become Colonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugudunenisium, abbreviated ''CCC AVG LVG''.

[[Nero]] also took an interest in the city. Citizens of Lugdunum contributed four million [[sesterce]]s to the recovery after the [[Great Fire of Rome]] in 64&nbsp;AD.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Morgan |first1=Gwyn |title=69 A.D.: The Year of Four Emperors |date=2006 |publisher=Oxford UP |location=Oxford |page=22 |isbn=978-0-19-531589-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hH88DwAAQBAJ&dq=Lugdunum+four+million+sesterces+Great+Fire+of+Rome+in+64+AD.&pg=PA22 |access-date=23 Oct 2022}}</ref> In the same year, the Lugdunum mint was closed and production shifted to Rome.<ref name="Cambridge University Press"/><ref name="Oxford University Press"/> A few years later, Nero contributed four million sesterces to the rebuilding of Lugdunum after a similarly devastating fire. Although the destructiveness of the fire is described in a letter from [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] to Lucilius,<ref>''Epistulae ad Lucilium'', 91.</ref> archeologists have not been able to uncover a confirmatory layer of ash.

The Lyonnais admiration of Nero was not universally shared; tyranny, extravagance, and negligence fostered resentment, and [[coup d'etat|coups]] were planned. In March 68&nbsp;AD, a Romanized Aquitainian named [[Vindex|Caius Julius Vindex]], who was governor of [[Gallia Lugdunensis]] led an uprising intended to replace Nero with [[Galba]], a Roman governor of [[Hispania|Spain]]. The citizens of [[Vienne, Isère|Vienne]], however, responded more enthusiastically than the Lyonnais, most of whom remained loyal to Nero. A small force from Vienne briefly besieged Lugdunum, but withdrew when Vindex was defeated by the Rhine legions a few weeks later at [[Vesontio]]. Despite the defeat of Vindex, rebellion grew. Nero committed suicide in June and Galba was proclaimed emperor. The loyalty of Lugdunum to Nero was not appreciated by his successor, Galba, who punished some of Nero's supporters by confiscations of property.

In another turnabout for Lugdunum, Galba's policies were immediately unpopular, and in January 69&nbsp;AD, the Rhine legions quickly threw their support to [[Vitellius]] as emperor. They arrived at friendly Lugdunum, where they were persuaded by the Lyonnais to punish nearby Vienne. Vienne quickly laid down weapons and paid a "ransom" to forestall plundering. Meanwhile, Vitellius arrived in Lugdunum, where, according to [[Tacitus]], he formally declared himself [[Imperator]], punished unreliable soldiers, and celebrated with feasts, and with games in the amphitheater. Fortunately for Lugdunum, the would-be emperor and his army hurried into Italy, defeated [[Otho]], and was in turn defeated by [[Vespasian]] and the army of the East, bringing the chaos of the [[Year of the Four Emperors]] to an end. Under [[Vespasian]], the city briefly resumed production of bronze coinage, ending a shortage in the money supply that had developed in the previous years.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Carradice |editor1-last=Metcalf |editor1-first=William E. |chapter=The Flavians|title=The Oxford handbook of Greek and Roman coinage |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-530574-6 |pages=376–380}}</ref>

Despite a lack of imperial visits for most of the next century, Lugdunum prospered, until [[Septimius Severus]] and the [[Battle of Lugdunum]] (see below) brought devastation in 197&nbsp;AD.

==Growth and prosperity in the first centuries of the Empire==
[[File:Aqueducchapo02.JPG|thumb|[[Aqueduct of the Gier]]]]
In the 2nd century, Lugdunum prospered and grew to a population of 40,000 to 200,000 persons.<ref>''L'Express''. No. 3074 {{in lang|fr}}.</ref> Four [[aqueduct (water supply)|aqueducts]] brought water to the city's [[fountain]]s, [[public bathing|public baths]], and wealthy homes. The aqueducts were well engineered and included several [[siphon]]s. 
{{Expand French|topic=geo|Aqueducs antiques de Lyon|date=June 2016}}

It continued to be a provincial capital with additional government functions and services such as the mint and customs service. Lugdunum had at least two [[Banking in ancient Rome|bank]]s and became the principal manufacturing center for pottery, metal working, and weaving in Gaul. Lyonnais [[terra cotta]], [[pottery]] and wine were traded throughout Gaul, and many other items were crafted for export.

The city itself was run by a "senate" of [[Decurion (administrative)|decurion]]s (the ''ordo decurionum'') and a hierarchy of magistrates: [[quaestor]]s, [[aedile]]s, and [[duumvir]]s. The social classes of the time consisted of the decurions at the top, who could aspire to Senate status, followed by the knights ([[equites]]), and the Augustales, six of whom were in charge of the municipal imperial cult. This latter status was the highest distinction to which a wealthy freedman could aspire. Many of the wealthy merchants and craftsmen were freedmen. Below them were the workmen and slaves.

The Rhône and Saône rivers were navigable, as were most of the rivers of Gaul, and river traffic was heavy. The Lyonnais company of boatmen (''nautae'') was the largest and "most honored" in Gaul. Archeological evidence suggests the right bank of the Saône had the largest concentration of wharves, quays and warehouses. Lyonnais boatmen dominated the wine trade from Narbonensis and Italy, as well as oil from Spain, to the rest of Gaul.

The heavy concentration of trade made Lugdunum one of the most cosmopolitan cities of Gaul, and inscriptions attest to a large foreign-born population, especially Italians, Greeks, and immigrants from the oriental provinces of [[Asia Minor]] and [[Syria-Palestine]].

There is evidence of numerous temples and shrines in Lugdunum. Traditional Gallic gods like mallet-bearing [[Sucellus]] and the [[mother goddess]]es called the [[Matres]] (depicted with [[cornucopia]]e) continued to be worshiped somewhat [[syncretism|syncretistically]] along with the Roman gods. Additional religious cults came with the oriental immigrants, who brought the eastern [[mystery religion]]s to the Rhône valley. A major shrine of the [[Phrygia]]n goddess [[Cybele]] was built in nearby Vienne, and she also seems to have found special favor in Lugdunum in the late 1st century and 2nd century.

==Christianity and the first martyrs==
{{Main|Persecution in Lyon}}
The cosmopolitan hospitality to eastern religions may have allowed the first attested Christian community in Gaul to be established in Lugdunum in the 2nd century, led by a bishop [[Saint Pothinus|Pothinus]]—who probably was Greek. In 177 it also became the first in Gaul to suffer persecution and [[martyr]]dom.

The event was described in a letter from the Christians in Lugdunum to counterparts in Asia, later retrieved and preserved by [[Eusebius of Caesarea|Eusebius]]. There is no record of a cause or a triggering event but mob violence against the Christians in the streets culminated in a public interrogation in the forum by the tribune and town magistrates. The Christians publicly confessed their faith and were imprisoned until the arrival of Legate of Lugdonensis, who gave his authority to the persecution. About 40 of the Christians were savagely{{sfn|Whitehead|n.d.}} martyred—tortured, dying in prison, beheaded, or killed by beasts in the arena as a public spectacle. Among the latter were Bishop Pothinus, [[Blandina]], Doctor Attalus, Ponticus, and the deacon Sanctus of Vienne. Their ashes were thrown into the Rhône.

Nevertheless, the Christian community either survived or was reconstituted, and under Bishop [[Irenaeus]] it continued to grow in size and influence.

==Battle of Lugdunum==
{{Main|Battle of Lugdunum}}
The 2nd century ended with another struggle for imperial succession. The emperor [[Pertinax]] was murdered in 193, and four generals again "contended for the purple". Two of the rivals, [[Clodius Albinus]] and [[Septimius Severus]], initially formed a political alliance. Albinus was a former legate of [[Britannia]] and commanded legions in Britain and Gaul. Septimius Severus commanded the [[Pannonia]]n legions, and led them successfully against [[Didius Julianus]] near Rome in 193, and defeated [[Pescennius Niger]] in 194. Severus consolidated his power in Rome and broke his alliance with Albinus. The [[Roman Senate|Senate]] supported Severus and declared Albinus a public enemy.

Clodius Albinus had settled with his army near Lugdunum early in 195. There, he had himself proclaimed [[Augustus (honorific)|Augustus]] and made plans to counter Severus. Albinus reopened the mint at Lugdunum, for the first time in over a century, issuing coins celebrating his "clemency", as well as one dedicated to the "Genius of Lugdunum."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Abdy|editor1-last=Metcalf |editor1-first=William E. |chapter=The Flavians|title=The Oxford handbook of Greek and Roman coinage |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-530574-6 |page=503}}</ref> He was joined by an army under [[Lucius Novius Rufus]], the governor of [[Hispania Tarraconensis]]. They successfully attacked the German troops of [[Virius Lupus]] but were unable to deter them from supporting Severus.

Severus brought his army from Italy and Germany toward the end of 196. The armies fought an initial, inconclusive engagement at Tinurtium ([[Tournus]]), about {{convert|60|km|mi|round=5|abbr=in}} up the Saône from Lugdunum. Albinus retreated with his forces toward Lugdunum.

On 19 February 197, Severus again attacked Clodius Albinus to the northwest of the city. Albinus' army was defeated in the bloody and decisive [[Battle of Lugdunum]]. [[Dio Cassius]] described 300,000 men involved in the battle: although this was one of the largest battles involving Roman armies known, this number is assumed to be an exaggeration. Albinus committed suicide in a house near the Rhône; his head was sent to Rome as a warning to his supporters. His defeated cohorts were dissolved and the victorious legions punished those in Lugdunum who had supported Albinus, by confiscation, banishment, or execution. The city was plundered or at least severely damaged by the battle. [[Legio I Minervia|Legio I ''Minervia'']] remained camped in Lugdunum from 198 to 211.

==Decline of Lugdunum and the Empire==
[[File:Antoninianus Florianus-unpub ant hercules.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Antoninianus]] struck by [[Florianus]] in 276&nbsp;AD at the reopened Lugdunum mint]]
Historical and archeological evidence indicates that Lugdunum never fully recovered from the devastation of this battle.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

When mints began to be set up outside Rome after 260&nbsp;AD, there was a Gallic mint which may have been located at Lugdunum, but more likely at [[Trier]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bland|editor1-last=Metcalf |editor1-first=William E. |chapter=From Gordian III to the Gallic Empire (AD 238–274)|title=The Oxford handbook of Greek and Roman coinage |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-530574-6 |pages=526–530}}</ref> which was definitely the mint of the [[Gallic Empire]]. [[Aurelian]] transferred minting from Trier to Lugdunum in 274&nbsp;AD; it was the sole mint for the western empire.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Estiot|editor1-last=Metcalf |editor1-first=William E. |chapter=The Later Third Century|title=The Oxford handbook of Greek and Roman coinage |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-530574-6 |pages=550–551}}</ref>

A major reorganization of imperial administration begun at the end of the 3rd century during the reign of [[Diocletian]] and completed a few decades later by [[Constantine I (emperor)|Constantine]] further reduced the importance of Lugdunum. This reorganization standardized size and status of provinces, splitting many of the larger. The new provinces were grouped in larger administrative districts. Lugdunum became the capital of a much smaller region containing only two cities besides Lugdunum: [[Autun]] and [[Langres]]. The new governor bore the title of consularis. The mint was retained at Lugdunum, as was an administrative tax office and a state-run [[wool]] clothing factory.

Lugdunum was no longer the chief city and administrative capital of Gaul. Although the city continued, there seems to have been a population shift from the Fourviere heights where the original Roman city was situated to the river valley below. Other evidence suggests other cities surpassed Lugdunum as trading centers.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

Though the [[Western Roman Empire]] persisted until 476&nbsp;AD, the border regions extending along the [[Rhine River]] in Germany to the [[Danube River]] in [[Dacia]] became far more important from a military and strategic standpoint. Cities like Augusta Treverorum ([[Trier]]) eclipsed Lugdunum in importance. The status of the western provinces declined further when Constantine made [[Byzantium]] (later named [[Constantinople]] after his death) the capital of the Eastern part of the Empire.

As the Western Empire disintegrated in the 5th century, Lugdunum became the principal city of the [[Kingdom of the Burgundians]] in 443&nbsp;AD. The Lugdunum mint remained in operation under the new rulers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stahl|editor1-last=Metcalf |editor1-first=William E. |chapter=The Transformation of the West|title=The Oxford handbook of Greek and Roman coinage |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-530574-6 |page=649}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[History of Lyon]]
* [[Abascantus]]
* [[Lyon cup]]
* [[List of Roman sites]]

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*[[Cassius Dio]]. ''Roman History.'' XLVI, 50.
*André Pelletier. ''Histoire de Lyon: de la capitale les Gaules à la métropole européene''. Editions Lyonnaises d'Art et d'Histoire. Lyon: 2004. {{ISBN|2-84147-150-0}}
*Seneca. ''[[Apocolocyntosis]].'' VII.
*{{Cite web |title=Witnesses of the Passion |last=Whitehead |first=Kenneth D. |work=Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity|date=n.d. |access-date=22 May 2023 |url= http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=17-05-023-f}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}

[https://www.topworldimages.com/Lugdunum.htm Multimedia Resources of Lugdunum]

{{Roman colonies in Europe}}
{{Ancient Rome topics|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:40s BC establishments]]
[[Category:43 BC]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 1st century BC]]
[[Category:1st-century BC establishments in the Roman Republic]]
[[Category:History of Lyon]]
[[Category:Roman Lyon| ]]
[[Category:Roman fortifications in Gallia Lugdunensis]]
[[Category:Roman towns and cities in France]]
[[Category:Herod Antipas]]
[[Category:War of Mutina]]