Argentoratum Argentoratum or Argentorate was the ancient name of the French city of Strasbourg . The Romans under Nero Claudius Drusus established a military outpost belonging to the " Germania Superior " Roman province close to a Gaulish village near the banks of the Rhine , at the current location of Strasbourg , and named it Argentoratum . The name " Argentoratum " was first mentioned in 12 BC and the city celebrated its 2 , 000th birthday in 1988 ; however , " Argentorate " as the toponym of the Gaulish settlement had preceded it before being latinized , though it is not known by how long . As systematic archaeological studies between 1947 and 1953 , conducted by Jean - Jacques Hatt , archaeologist and director of the " Musée archéologique de Strasbourg " , have shown , Argentoratum was destroyed by fire and rebuilt six times between the first and the 5th century AD : in 70 , 97 , 235 , 355 , in the last quarter of the 4th century , and in the early years of the 5th century . It was under Trajan and after the fire of 97 that Argentoratum received its most extended and fortified shape . From the year 90 the Legio VIII Augusta was permanently stationed in Argentoratum . The Roman camp of Argentoratum then included a cavalry section and covered an area of approximately , from approximately in Tiberian times . Other Roman legions temporarily stationed in Argentoratum were the Legio XIV Gemina and the Legio XXI Rapax , the latter during the reign of Nero . The centre of the camp of Argentoratum proper was situated on the Grande Île , with the Cardo being the current " Rue du Dôme " and the Decumanus , the current " Rue des Hallebardes " . Many Roman artifacts have also been found along the current " Route des Romains " in the suburb of Kœnigshoffen , on the road that lead to it . This was where the largest burial places ( necropoleis ) were situated as well as the densest concentration of civilian dwelling places ( vicus ) and commerces next to the camp . Among the most outstanding finds in Kœnigshoffen were ( found in 1911 – 12 by Robert Forrer , Hatt ' s predecessor at the head of the " Musée archéologique " ) the fragments of a grand Mithraeum that had been shattered by early Christians in the 4th century . As it were , from the 4th century , Strasbourg was the seat of the Bishopric of Strasbourg ( made an Archbishopric in 1988 ) . Archaeological diggings by J . - J . Hatt below the current " Église Saint - Étienne " in 1948 and 1956 have unearthed the apse of a church dating back to the late 4th century or early 5th century , and considered the oldest church in Alsace . It is supposed that this was the first seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Strasbourg . The Alemanni fought a Battle of Argentoratum against Rome in 357 . They were defeated by Julian , later Emperor of Rome , and their king Chnodomar was taken prisoner . On 2 January 366 the Alemanni crossed the frozen Rhine in large numbers , to invade the Roman Empire . Early in the 5th century the Alemanni appear to have crossed the Rhine , conquered , and then settled what is today Alsace and a large part of Switzerland . From this period on Argentoratum disappears from historical records and is replaced by the toponym " Stratisburgum " .