Amiens City Map Poster

About Amiens

The city is first mentioned by Ptolemy in his "Geography" (2.10) as Αμινίου, which was later Latinised to Ambiani and included in the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. The name has been more recently applied to the Atrebates tribe living around this place, who were defeated by Julius Caesar in 57 BC during his conquest of Gaul. The Celtic settlement that preceded it became known as Ambianum or Amsianum from a personal name; it was ultimately transformed into an oppidum then a colonia named after its founder Cornelius Nepos ("Amiens"). In Old French (and Picard), the city is called "Ambres", derived from Vulgar Latin *ambetes 'trees', which came from Classical Latin ambi- 'around' + -etes 'woodland'. During antiquity, it was known as "Nemetocenna" ('City of Nemetona'), meaning either "[city] among fields" or "[city] between rivers".