Country France Department Deux-Sèvres Population (2006) 807 Area 52.38 km² | Region Nouvelle-Aquitaine Canton Lezay Time zone CET (UTC+1) Arrondissement Niort | |
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Rom is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in western France.
Map of 79120 Rom, France
It was the Roman settlement of Rauranum, located at a ford on a little river on the Roman road between Limonum (Poitiers) and Santonum (Saintes), according to the Antonine Itinerary. At this posting stage or relay stage (mutatio), fresh horses could be found. It lay in the part of Gaul that became Aquitania in Late Antiquity. The Roman site, first rediscovered through aerial photography, is famous for its inscription to Epona. The streets of this vicus were paved with stone, its roofs covered with platelike terracotta tiles. Stone drums that once composed columns have been recovered in fields near the present parish church and built into the wall of its cemetery. Finds from excavations are presented in a format designed for children in the Musée de Rauranum, place de l'Église.