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Narbonne

Location

478 AD

Capital of Visigothic Septimania

Overview: - Founded 118 BC as Colonia Iulia Paterna Narbo Martius, the first Roman colony outside Italy. Ceded to the Visigoths in 462 AD, becoming Septimania's capital and archbishopric. By 478 AD (Book I's setting) it is a Visigothic city built almost entirely of reused Roman fabric.

Notes: - The 444–450 AD basilica reconstruction literally reused columns quarried from the Roman forum — documented physical reality, not artistic license.

Timeline: - 118 BC founded; 441 AD basilica destroyed by fire; 444-450 AD rebuilt with salvaged forum columns; 462 AD ceded to Visigoths; 478 AD Book I setting; 507 AD Vouillé; 526 AD Amalaric's capital.

Sources: - Archaeological excavations of the Horreum (1838-1943); Narbonne and its Territory in Late Antiquity (Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2014).

Book I

narbonne