Laudator Temporis Acti

Paul MacKendrick, Roman France (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1972), p. 43 (on Gergovie):

In 1862 the site was called Merdogne — which might be euphemistically be translated as "Smellville."

Bijan Omrani, Caesar's Footprints. A Cultural Excursion to Ancient France: Journeys Through Roman Gaul (New York: Pegasus Books, 2017), pp. 91-92:

On the slope some distance below the top of the plateau, the road passes through the village of Gergovia. In its lower reaches there are capillary-winding culs-de-sac; its centre is ancient and stone-built. Large barn dwellings stand like cattle in a stall along a narrow, winding main thoroughfare. Honey-coloured lintels are carved with dancetty coats of arms staring out into the street. A Romanesque church sits on a promontory above a small and irregular village square. Cockerels squawk. Two boys play at a fountain, lashing the water with sticks. Above, a plaque records the visit in 1862 of Napoleon III, great searcher for Caesar and the Gauls in France. The plaque records not just the emperor’s visit, but also his munificence. The name of Gergovia had been lost to the village generations before his visit. By then, it rejoiced in the name of Merdogne — 'Shit-hole'. By his command, the older and more dignified name was to be restored in the modern French form of Gergovie.

Labels: noctes scatologicae