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Située au croisement de cinq anciennes voies romaines, Corseul (en latin Fanum Martis :" temple de Mars ") était la capitale gallo-romaine des Coriosolites, créée vers l'an 10 avant notre ère et citée par Jules César dans son ouvrage "La guerre des Gaules". Construite en 70 après J.C., il ne reste aujourd'hui de la cella octogonale (demeure sacrée du dieu de la guerre) que trois pans de murs d'une dizaine de mètres de hauteur. Le temple aurait en effet été détruit au 11ème siècle pour servir de matériaux de construction à l'abbaye de Léhon. L'ensemble occupait à l'origine une surface d'un hectare. Aux IIIe et IVe siècles, comme beaucoup de métropoles régionales, Fanum Martis change son nom et prend celui du peuple dont elle est la capitale. Ces mutations toponymiques sont intervenues à une époque où la solidité de l'Empire romain s'effondrait. On observe alors, entre autres éléments significatifs, une renaissance des antiques divinités gauloises locales dans les sculptures religieuses et les inscriptions dédicatoires. Le changement de noms de cité relève sans doute un phénomène du même ordre, lié à une résurgence des vieux sentiments d'appartenance ethnique des peuples gaulois.
Located at the intersection of five ancient Roman roads, Corseul (latin Fanum Martis: "Temple of Mars") was the capital of the Gallo-Roman Coriosolites founded around the year 10 BC and named by Julius Caesar in his book "The Gallic wars. " Built in 70 AD, it remains today of the octagonal cella (sacred remains of the god of war) with three walls of about ten meters high. The temple would have been destroyed in the 11th century to serve as building materials to the abbey of Léhon. The entire space within the home area of one hectare. For the third and fourth centuries, as many regional cities, Fanum Martis change his name and takes the people to which it is the capital. Toponymic these mutations occurred at a time when the strength of the Roman Empire collapsed. There is then, among other elements, a revival of the ancient Gallic deities in the local religious sculptures and dedicatory inscriptions. The change of names mentioned is probably a similar phenomenon, linked to a resurgence of old feelings of ethnic peoples of Gaul.
France is affectionately referred to as "the Hexagon" for its overall shape.French history goes back to the Gauls, a Celtic tribe which inhabited the area circa 300BC until being conquered by Julius Caesar.The Franks were the first tribe to adopt Catholic Christianity after the Roman Empire collapsed. France became an independent location in the Treaty of Verdun in (843 AD), which divided up Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire into several portions.The French monarchy reached its zenith during the reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King, who stood for seventy-two years as the Monarch of all Monarchs. His palace of Versailles and its Hall of Mirrors are a splendid treasure-trove of Baroque art.The French Revolution ended the rule of the monarchy with the motto "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity!" On July 14th, 1789 angry mobs stormed La Bastille prison and began the Revolution in which Louis XVI, his wife Marie-Antoinette and thousands of others met the guillotine.One decade after the revolution, Napolean Bonaparte seized control of the Republic and named himself Emperor. His armies conquered most of Europe and his Napoleonic Code became a lasting legal foundation for concepts of personal status and property.During the period of colonization France controlled the largest empire in the world, second only to Britain.France is one of the founding members of the European Union and the United Nations, as well as one of the nuclear armed nations of the world.Text by Steve Smith.
