(Torino, Turin). A city in Gallia Cisalpina (northwestern Italy), at the foot of the Mont Genevre pass over the Cottian Alps; situated on the left bank of the river Padus (Po), which became navigable at this point, at its confluence with the Durias Minor (Dora Riparia). The chief center of the tribe of the Taurini, the place is probably identical withthe Taurasia which, according to Appian, was captured by Hannibal in 218 BC, at the beginning of the Second Punic War. It gained importance from its position on the Via Fulvia from Placentia (Piacenza) to the Alps (159 BC).

The settlement ofa Roman colony is likely to date from c 29/8, 3 or 4 years before a force sent by Augustus conquered the Salassi to the north. After Vitellius' victory in the Civil War of AD 69, a legion that he moved out of Augusta taurinorum owing to its disorderly conduct left fires that consumed part of the colony. The rectangular symmetry of the ancient urban plan was retained by the medieval and modern city. The Porta Principalis Sinistra (Palatina) is an unusually fine surviving example of a city gate.