Milan), the capital of Cisalpine Gaul, stood in the centre of the great plain of Northern Italy, at an equal distance between the Ticinus (Ticino) on the W., and the Addua (Adda) on the E. According to Livy, it was founded in the territory of the Insubres by the migratory Gallic hordes that crossed the Alps in the reign of Tarquinius Priscus. It was named after a village in Transalpine Gaul. Although the capital of the Insubres, Mediolanum does not seem to have passed beyond the condition of a village until it became subject to the Romans about 190 B.C. Then its pleasant site, in the middle of a large fertile plain, recommended it as a place of residence, and gradually raised it to importance. Strabo calls it "a considerable city;" and in the time of Pliny the Younger it had become a favourite seat of learning. During the wars with the barbarians of Pannonia, Germany, and Gaul, it was often the head-quarters of the Roman emperors. At length Mediolanum attained its highest prosperity when Maximian, about 303 A.D., chose it for his place of residence. It then became the abode of a refined and pleasure-seeking society. Temples, baths, elegant mansions, a palace, a theatre, a circus, and a mint, were speedily erected. It was now the capital of Northern Italy, and was thought worthy by Antonius, a poet of the fourth century, to hold the sixth place among his fourteen "Illustrious Cities." Mediolanum continued to be the seat of the imperial court until Honorius, alarmed at the approach of the Visigoths under Alaric, repaired, about 403 A.D., to the impregnable fortress of Ravenna. Its prosperity then began to decline, and was almost extinguished by the pillaging it suffered from Attila A.D. 452. However, it was still considered the capital of Northern Italy; and in 476 A.D. became the seat of the Gothic kings. Wrested from the Goths soon afterwards by Belisarius, it was retaken and reduced to ashes A.D. 539; yet it regained its prosperity in the middle ages, and retains it to the present day.