JULIO´BONA
JULIO´BONA (
Ἰουλιόβονα), a town in Gallia Belgica, is the city of the Caleti, or Caleitae as Ptolemy writes the name (2.8.5), who occupied the
Pays de Caux. [
CALETI] The place is
Lillebone, on the little river
Bolbec, near the north bank of the
Seine, between
Havre and
Caudebec, in the present department of
Seine Inférieuse. The Itins. show several roads from Juliobona; one to Rotomagus (
Rouen), through Breviodurum; and another through Breviodurum to Noviomagus (
Lisieux), on the south side of the
Seine. The road from Juliobona to the west terminated at Carocotinum. [
CAROCOTINUM] The place has the name Juliabona in the Latin middle age writings.
It was a favourite residence of the dukes of Normandie, and William, named the Conqueror, had a castle here, where he often resided.
The name Juliobona is one of many examples of a word formed by a Roman prefix (Julio) and a Celtic termination (Bona), like Augustobona, Juliomagus.
The word Divona or Bibona [
DIVONA] has the same termination.
It appears from a middle age Latin writer, cited by D'Anville (
Notice, &c., Juliobona), that the place was then called Illebona, from which the modern name
Lillebonne has come by prefixing the article; as the river Oltis in the south of France has become
L'Olt, and
Lot.
The name Juliobona, the traces of the old roads, and the remains discovered on the site of
Lillebonne prove it to have been a Roman town. A Roman theatre, tombs, medals, and antiquities, have been discovered.
[
G.L]
