DURA´NIUS
DURA´NIUS (
Dordogne), a large river of Gallia, which joins the Garumna (
Garonne), on the right bank below
Bordeaux. Ausonius (
Mosella, 5.464) says of the Duranius,--
Concedes gelido Durani de monte volutus
Amnis.
The
Dordogne rises in
Mont Dor, which seems to have given the river its name.
Mont Dor is in the department of
Pay de Dome, and its summit is said to be the highest point of the mountains of central France.
The name Duranius appears in the middle ages in various forms; and Dordonia, one of them, is the origin of the name
Dordogne. [
G.L]