CONFLUENTES
CONFLUENTES (
Coblenz), a town in Gallia, at the junction of the
Rhine and
Mosel, is first mentioned by Suetonius. [AMBIATINUS.] Ammianus (16.3) describes it as a place “ubi amnis Mosella confunditur Rheno.” This description and the identity of the name prove the position of Confluentes; but it is said that there is not a trace of Roman remains on the spot. The Antonine Itin., the Table, and the Notitia also mention the place, which must have been an important position on the Rhenish frontier.
Caesar does not mention Confluentes under any name; nor does he mention the
Mosel, unless he means this river by the words “ad confluentem Mosae et Rheni” (
B. G. 4.15); and that he does mean the junction of the
Mosel and
Rhine seems to be quite clear from the narrative of his attack on the Germans and their defeat. Confluentes was in the territory of the Treviri, as we may collect from Caesar; and a middle age authority, quoted by D'Anville, says “Cophelince urbs, Treviricae civitatis archiepiscopi.”
The term “confluentes” was used by the Romans to express the junction of two rivers, as in Livy (
4.17).
There is a
Coblenz in Switzerland in the canton of
Aargau, at the junction of the Aar and the Rhine.
It is said that many Roman antiquities have been found here; and we may infer that the Roman name of the place was Confluentes.
[
G.L]
