Divodurum Mediomatricorum

Divodurum Mediomatricorum is the Latin name indicating the town of Metz during the Antiquité.

Chief town and Oppidum of the quoted of the Médiomatriques, Divodurum is located at the confluence of the the Moselle and the Seille on the current hill Holy-Cross.

Etymology

Several significances were proposed for this name.

Tacite is the first to quote the oppidum in the sentence “ Diuoduri Mediomatricorum id oppidum is ” (Divodurum is the Fortified town of Médiomatriques).

Certain etymologists, having noted that in Breton trégorrois the plural of the word “water” says douro and the word “two” (granted to female plural), diou or Div , think that Divodurum could be the word Dioudouro or Divdouro , meaning “confluent” or “two water”. The fact that the oppidum Divodurum dominated the confluence of the Pail and the Moselle makes this assumption plausible.

But, other scholars think that the Gallic word dour meant “fortress simply”. Thus, Divodurum would be a “fortress of the Gods”, or “crowned fortress”.

History

Divodurum was the oppidum (strengthened city), the chief town of the Gallic nation that César called Mediomatrici : the Médiomatriques. On the Table of Peutinger (medieval copy of a Roman military chart of IIe-IIIe century) the city is indicated compared to the city from which it is the chief town: Divodurum Mediomatricorum (Divodurum of Médiomatriques).

In IVe-Ve centuries occurs a material change: the names of the cities grow blurred, and there remains only the name of the people which constituted the city. Ammien Marcellin calls the city Mediomatrici or Civitas Mediomatricorum .

The modern form appears a little later in Ve century: Mettis .

See too

Amphitheater of Metz, built with Divodurum with the Ier century

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