Editing Angers (section)

=== Prehistory and antiquity ===

[[File:Brozen Sword.jpg|upright=0.5|thumb|A model of a sword from the [[Bronze Age]] discovered in the 2000s in the Maine riverbed]]
The first sign of human presence in Angers dates back to around 400,000&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rogers |first=Joe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qTfGDA70tGUC&q=angers+400+000+bc&pg=PA128 |title=From an Irish Market Town |publisher=Publishamerica Inc |year=2011 |isbn=978-1456043087 |pages=128}}</ref> Vestiges from the [[Neolithic]] are more abundant and include numerous polished stone axes. Burials from 4500&nbsp;{{abbr|x|sometime between}}&nbsp;3500&nbsp;BC were also discovered on the castle grounds.

During the 5th century&nbsp;BC, the [[Andecavi]], a Celtic people, settled north of the [[Loire]]. By the end of the [[Age of Iron|Iron Age]], Angers was a relatively densely populated [[oppidum|hillfort]]. While the settlement's Roman name—Juliomagus—may be older, it is only attested from the 3rd century. The Roman town consisted of many villas and baths and had an amphitheater as well as a [[Mithraeum]], a temple dedicated to [[Mithra]].

Successive Germanic invasions in AD&nbsp;275 and 276 forced the inhabitants to move to the highest point of their city and to build a wall around a small area of around {{convert|9|ha|sp=us}}.