Ledosus

(Lezoux) in eastern Aquitania (Puy-de-Dôme, Auvergne), south-central Gaul

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A village forming one of the principal centers of the pottery industry in the Roman empire. Early in the Principate, Italian wares (notably those from Arretium [Arezzo]) lost their primacy, first to Condatomagus (Graufesenque) and then to Ledosus, where (expanding a much earlier trade, exemplified by recent finds of Italian bronzes) potters from the time of Tiberius (AD 14–37) imitated products imported from Italy and sold their handiwork in Gaul, Germany and Britain. These copies consist mainly of terracottas with low relief decoration (terra sigillata), but also include bowls, jugs, relief plaques and architectural ornaments. After a subsequent reduction of activity, the workshops of Ledosus revived in the course of the second century and maintained their activity until the fourth.