- published: 17 Mar 2012
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Colonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugdunum (modern: Lyon, France) was a very important Roman city in Gaul. The city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus. It served as the capital of the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis. For 300 years after its foundation, Lugdunum was the most important city in the western part of the Roman Empire after Rome . Two emperors, Claudius (Germanicus) and Caracalla, were born in Lugdunum. In the time period 69–192 AD the city population could be as large as 50,000 to 100,000. Even figures of up to 200,000 people are proposed by Albert Grenier.
The original Roman city was situated west of the confluence of the Rhône and Saône, on the Fourvière heights. By the late centuries of the empire much of the population was located in the Saône River valley at the foot of Fourvière.
The Roman city was originally founded as Colonia Copia Felix Munatia, a name invoking prosperity and the blessing of the gods. The city became increasingly referred to as Lugdunum (and occasionally Lugudunum) by the end of the 1st century AD. During the Middle Ages, Lugdunum was transformed to Lyon by natural sound change.