Treviri

TREVIRI [TREVERI]

or Trevĕri. A powerful people in Gallia Belgica, who were faithful allies of the Romans, and whose cavalry was the best in all Gaul. The river Mosella flowed through their territory, which extended westward from the Rhine as far as the Remi. Their chief town was made a Roman colony by Augustus, and was called Augusta Trevirōrum (Trier or Trèves). It stood on the right bank of the Mosella, and became under the later Empire one of the most flourishing Roman cities north of the Alps. It was the capital of Belgica Prima; and after the division of the Roman world by Diocletian (A.D. 292) into four districts it became the residence of the Caesar who had the government of Britain, Gaul, and Spain. The modern city still contains many interesting Roman remains, among them a famous arch or gate known as the Porta Nigra, baths, an amphitheatre, and a palace once occupied by the emperor Constantine. See the monographs by Wilmowski (1874-1876), Hettner (1880), Steinbach (1883), and Beissel (1888), and Freeman's Historical and Architectural Studies (1876).