VESUNNA
VESUNNA (
Οὐέσουνα), according to Ptolemy (
2.7.12) the capital of the Petrocorii, a people of Aquitania.
In inscriptions the name is written Vesunna.
The place occurs in the Itins., and its position is
Périgeux, in the old province of
Périgord, which name as well as
Périgueux is a memorial of the name of the people, Petrocorii.
But it is said that the remains of the old town are still called
La Vésone. Périgueux is on the
Ille, a branch of the
Dordogne, and it is the capital of the department of
Dordogne.
There is no Roman city in France of which we know so little that contains so many remains as
Périgueux. Foundations of ancient buildings, mosaics, statues, and ruins of edifices show its former magnitude. The
tour de Véone, a round building constructed of small stones and of rough materials, is supposed to have been the cella of a temple, or a tomb, as, some conjecture.
It is about 200 feet in circumference.
There were seven bridges at Vesunna, four of which have been repaired or rebuilt.
There are some remains of an amphitheatre of large dimensions. Several aqueducts supplied the
[p. 2.1284]town with water.
There are also remains of a Roman citadel. On a hill which commands Vesunna, and is separated from it by the river
Iíle, there are the remains of a Roman camp, which is called
Camp de César, though Caesar never was there; but some of his successors may have been.
There are several other Roman camps about
Périgueux. Several Roman roads have been traced leading to
Périgueux. Vesunna seems to have been an important position in Aquitania during the imperial government of Rome.
There is a French work on the antiquities of
Vésone by M. Wlgrin de Tailleffer, 2 vols. 4to. 1821, Périgueux.
[
G.L]
