Le Mans: A Roman City Holding onto the Past

Le Mans, despite shifting rulers, retains much of its Roman heritage:

• A third-century amphitheater, still visible today, reflects the city's former prosperity.
• The Roman thermae (baths) were demolished during the Crisis of the Third Century, as workers repurposed materials to construct the city’s defensive walls.
• Much of these walls survive, serving as a reminder of the Roman legacy in Gaul even as Germanic rulers take control.

The Last Days of Roman Gaul

• Syagrius remains the last guardian of Roman civilization in Gaul, but his power is increasingly encircled by the Franks and Visigoths.
• As local rulers like the one in Le Mans break away, the final remnants of centralized Roman governance fade.
• By the end of the fifth century, Gaul will be firmly in the hands of the Franks, marking the definitive transition from the Roman world to the early medieval order.

Syagrius' defeat at the hands of Clovis I in 486 CE will mark the final end of Roman rule in Gaul, leaving only the Byzantine Empire in the east as the last vestige of the once-mighty Roman world.