These are the only worthy objects of architectural inquiry now existing
in the city. Many must have been destroyed by the ravages of war, and by
the excesses of the revolution.--Evreux therefore does not abound with
memorials of its antiquity. But its existence as a town, during the
period of the domination of the Romans, rests upon authority that is
scarcely questionable. It has been doubted whether the present city, or
a village about three miles distant, known by the name of _Old Evreux_,
is the _Mediolanum Aulercorum_ of Ptolemy. His description is given with
sufficient accuracy to exclude the pretensions of any other town, though
not with such a degree of precision as will enable us, after a lapse of
sixteen centuries, to decide between the claims of the two sites. Caesar,
in his _Commentaries_, speaks in general terms of the _Aulerci
Eburovices_, who are admitted to have been the ancient inhabitants of
this district, and whose name, especially as modified to _Ebroici_ and
_Ebroi_, is clearly to be recognized in that of the county. The
foundations of ancient buildings are still to be seen at Old Evreux; and
various coins and medals of the upper empire, have at different times
been dug up within its precincts. Hence it has been concluded, that the
_Mediolanum Aulercorum_ was situated there.
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