Editing Solothurn (section)

===Roman settlement===
[[File:Picswiss SO-19-21.jpg|thumb|left|Modern Wengi bridge; the Roman bridge was north of this point.]]

The [[Switzerland in the Roman era|Roman]] settlement at Solothurn was probably built around AD 15–25 as a road station and bridge head on the road from [[Aventicum]] to [[Augusta Raurica]] or [[Vindonissa]]. A small [[vicus]] or settlement quickly developed around the [[castrum]]. Solothurn is first mentioned in 219 as ''vico salod[uro]''<ref name=HDS/> on the so-called Eponastein. The name may indicate either that a [[Celts|Celtic]] settlement existed on the site before or just be a testimony to the mixed [[Gallo-Roman culture]] in the north-west provinces of the Roman Empire.<ref name=HDS_Roman>{{HDS|1174<!--Section 3-2-->|Solothurn – Roman Empire}}</ref> It came to be known as ''Salodurum'', this name believed to derive from a Celtic language, possibly meaning "Salo's fort," from the personal name Salo + Proto-Celtic *''dūnom'', meaning "fort" or "stronghold," likely influenced by the Latin ''durus'', meaning "hard" or "strong," as in other place names. Its strategical importance lay in the position at the approach to the Rhine from southeast. In the 2nd–3rd century AD, the vicus expanded rapidly to fill almost all of what is now the old town of Solothurn, including a portion of today's suburb south of the [[Aare]].<ref name=HDS_Roman/>

The Roman bridge was probably somewhat above the current Wengibrücke. The Roman era river bed was {{convert|40|-|80|m|ft|sp=us}} north of the present Aare. The main street of the Vicus was well below the present main street. In addition to the normal government of the settlement, there were two mayors (magistri), and a six-member college (seviri Augustales), which was entrusted with supporting the [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|imperial cult]]. Salodurum was also home to a guard detachment of the [[Legio XXII Primigenia|XXII Legion]], whose high command was stationed in [[Mainz]] in Germany. According to inscriptions, there was a temple of Jupiter, a temple of Apollo Augustus and an altar to the goddess of horses [[Epona]], who was popular in the Roman military and of Celtic origin. However, the locations of those three temples is not known. There was bath house on the main street and a pottery district in the northwest of the town which have been documented archaeologically. A cemetery with urns and cremation burials on the eastern end of the Vicus was discovered in 1762–63 during the demolition of the old church of St. Ursus. In addition, two Roman tombs were discovered in the same area.<ref name=HDS_Roman/>

Around 325–350, the unfortified settlement along the road was transformed into a fortified camp or castrum, which covered only half of the former settlement area. A {{convert|2|-|3|m|ft|sp=us}} thick and {{convert|9|m|ft|abbr=on}} high wall was built around the settlement. The new, fortified town was bell-shaped, and is still visible in the [[cadastral]] map of the town. At various points in the town, large and small pieces of the old Roman wall are still visible in the houses of the old town. The location of a gate in the north and a tower in the south-east corner are known and it is likely that there were additional gates and towers. Almost nothing is known about the buildings inside the walls.<ref name=HDS_Early_MA>{{HDS|1174<!--Section 3-3-->|Solothurn – Late Antiquity to Early Middle Ages}}</ref>