MEDIOLANUM, the chief ancient city in Gallia Transpa dana (mod. Milan, q.v.), Italy. The name is Celtic. The Romans defeated the Insubres in 225-222 B.C., and stormed Mediolanum itself in the latter year. Its inhabitants rebelled in the Hanni balic War, but were reduced to obedience in 196 B.C. In Strabo's time it was on an equality to Verona, but smaller than Patavium, but later increased. At the end of the 3rd century it became the seat of the governor of Aemilia and Liguria (which then included Gallia Transpadana also, thus consisting of the 9th and I'd) regions of Augustus), and at the end of the 4th, of the governor of Liguria only, Aemilia having one of its own thenceforth. From Diocletian's time onwards the praefectus praetorio and the impe rial vicar of Italy also had their seat here : and it became one of the principal mints of the empire. The emperors of the West resided at Mediolanum during the 4th century, until Honorius in 402 transferred his court to Ravenna. Its many inscriptions indicate a strong Celtic character in the population. Procopius speaks of it as the first city of the West, after Rome, and says that when it was captured by the Goths in 539, 300,000 of the inhabitants were killed. Roads radiated to Comum, to the foot of Ticinum, to Laus Pompeia and thence to Placentia and Cremona, and to Bergomum. None of these roads had an individual name, so far as we know. To its secular power corresponds the inde
pendent position which its Church took in the time of St. Ambrose (q.v.), bishop of Milan in 374-397, who founded the church which bears his name, and here baptized St. Augustine in A.D. 384, and whose rite is still in use throughout the diocese. The Huns invaded it under Attila (452), the Heruli under Odoacer (476) and the Goths under Theodoric (493). When Belisarius was sent by Jus tinian to recover Italy, Datius, archbishop of Milan, joined him, and the Goths were expelled from the city. Uraia, nephew of Vitigis the Goth, destroyed the whole of Milan in 539. Narses, in his campaigns against the Goths, had invited the Lombards to his aid; under Alboin, their king, they soon mastered north Italy, entering Milan in 569, but Pavia became the Lombard capital.
Of Roman remains little is seen above ground, but the plan of the city, which was rectangular, may be traced in the centre of the modern town and one of the round towers of its walls still exists. Close to the Torre del Carrobio remains of an ancient bridge and (possibly) of the walls of Maximian were found ; and many remains of ancient buildings, including a theatre, have been discovered below ground-level. The objects found are preserved in the archaeological museum in the Castello Sforzesco. (See