The town was not located on major roads and was considered by the poet Ausonius as a small town. No Roman monuments have been found but it benefited from the "Pax Romana" and from trade on the river. The town had a prosperous period at the end of the Roman Empire. The rocky promontory overlooking the Charente high and over the Anguienne high formed a strategic position. It was raised to the rank of capital of "civitas" (at the end of the 3rd or 4th centuries) and the first fortress dates from the end of the Roman Empire. The rampart called Bas-Empire which surrounds 27 hectares of land was maintained until the 13th century. The network of Roman roads were then reorganized to link the town with the surrounding cities of Bordeaux, Saintes, Poitiers, Limoges, and Périgueux.