Beneharnum

BENEHARNUMa place first mentioned in the Antonine Itin. It is placed 19 Gallic leagues, or 28 1/2 M. P., from Aquae Tarbellicae ( Dax), on the road to Toulouse. But the road was circuitous, for it passed through Aquae Convenarum; and between Beneharnum and Aquae Convenarum the Itin. places Oppidum Novum ( Nayeon the Gave), 27 M. P. from Beneharnum. Another road from Caesar Augusta ( Saragossa) to Beneharnum, passes through Aspa Luca ( Pont l'Esquit) and Iluro ( Oléron), on the Gave d'Oléron. Iluro is 18 M. P. from Beneharnum. If then we join Oléronand Nayeby a straight line, we have the respective distances 18 and 27 M. P. from Oléronand Nayeto Beneharnum, as the other sides of the triangle. Walekenaer, on the. authority of these two routes and personal observation, places Beneharnum at Vieille Tourto the E. of Maslac;Reichard, at Navarreins;and D'Anville places it near Orthez. Walckenaer's site is at Castelnon, between Maslacand Lagor, in the department of Basses Pyrénées. Beneharnum was undoubtedly the origin of the name of Bélarn, one of the old divisions of France. Beneharnum, under the name of Benarnum, existed in the sixth century of our aera, and had a bishop. There are no ancient remains which can be identified as the site of Beneharnum. (D'Anville, Notice, &c.;Walckenaer, Géog. vol. 2. p. 401, &c.)