Aunedonnacum

About

Between two Gaulish revolts in 27 B.C. and 21 A.C., the Romans founded ex nihilo Aunedonnacum, present-day Aulnay (Charente-Maritime), with an important military camp, a castrum, which they built at the crossroads of two imperial ways and in a "border" region where the ancient forest of Argenson separated the former provinces of Pictons and Santons. Despite his ephemeral presence, he played both a strategic role in military matters and a road intersection.

It gave birth to the present village of Aulnay-de-Saintonge, located in the north-east of the Charente-Maritime department. It was thanks to the valuable assistance of aerial archaeology that this site was clearly identified in 1976 by Jacques Dassié and contributed to a significant increase in knowledge about the Gallo-Roman period of Charente-Maritime.