What was Mediolanum?
Mediolanum was the ancient city on the site of modern Milan, first an Insubrian settlement and later an important Roman city in northern Italy.
Questions about Mediolanum
Short answers, pulled from the story.
When was Mediolanum founded?
Mediolanum was settled by a Celtic tribe of the Insubres group, part of the Golasecca culture, around 590 BC, under the name Medhelanon.
When did Rome conquer Mediolanum?
Rome conquered Mediolanum in 222 BC, when consul Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus defeated the Insubres and their chief submitted to Roman rule.
Why did Constantine issue the Edict of Milan at Mediolanum?
Constantine issued the Edict of Milan from Mediolanum in AD 313 to grant tolerance to every religion in the empire, opening the way for Christianity to become its dominant faith.
What does the name Mediolanum mean?
Mediolanum comes from the Gaulish word medio, meaning middle or center, combined with -lanon, the Celtic equivalent of the Latin -planum for plain, together meaning a settlement in the midst of the plain.
How did Mediolanum decline and lose its status as capital?
Mediolanum was besieged by Alaric I in 402 and by Attila in 452, then devastated during the Gothic War in 538 by Uraia, nephew of the Gothic king Vitiges. The Lombards captured the city in 569 and made Ticinum, renamed Papia, their capital instead.