Editing Moselle (section)

== Name ==
The name Moselle is derived from the [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] name form, ''Mosela'', via the [[Latin]] ''Mosella'', a diminutive form of ''Mosa'', the Latin description of the [[Meuse]], which used to flow parallel to the Moselle. So the ''Mosella'' was the "Little Meuse".

The Moselle is first recorded by [[Publius Cornelius Tacitus|Tacitus]] in Book 13 of his ''[[Tacitus#The Annals|Annals]]''<ref name="PCTacitus1" /> and in Book 4 of his ''[[Tacitus#The Histories|Histories]]''.<ref name="PCTacitus2" />

The [[Roman Empire|Roman]] poet [[Ausonius]] made it a literary theme as early as the 4th century. In his poem dated 371, called ''[[Mosella (Ausonius)|Mosella]]'', which was published in 483 [[hexameter]]s, this poet of the [[Late Antiquity]] and teacher at the Trier Imperial Court (''Kaiserhof'') described a journey from Bingen over the [[Hunsrück]] hills to the Moselle and then following its course to Trier on the road named after him, the Via Ausonia. Ausonius describes flourishing and rich landscapes along the river and in the valley of the Moselle, thanks to the policies of their Roman rulers.

The river subsequently gave its name to two French republican [[département]]s: [[Moselle (department)|Moselle]] and [[Meurthe-et-Moselle]].