Scientists in France may be hot on the trail of a long-lost canal that the Romans built over two millennia ago while battling the Celts.
The waterway, known as the Marius Canal, was built around 2,100 years ago within the Rhône River delta. It was the first major Roman water hydraulic feature in what was then Gaul, preceding dams, watermills and aqueducts. According to historical accounts, it was built between 104 and 102 B.C. by the troops of Julius Caesar's uncle, the general Gaius Marius. Its construction was meant to aid efforts in the Cimbrian Wars, a series of conflicts between the Roman Republic and Celtic tribes, the Cimbri and Teutones, that were migrating south from Jutland, present-day Denmark.
