ARLON  , the

chief town of the Belgian province of Luxemburg, situated on a hill about 1240 ft. above the sea . Pop . (1904) 10,894 . It is a very ancient town, and in the time of the Romans was called Orolaunum, being a station on the Antoninian way connecting Reims and Treves . Authorities dispute as to the origin of the name, some tracing it to Ara Lunae, a temple of Diana having been erected here, while others more plausibly derive it from the Celtic words ar (mount) and lun (wooded) . Nowadays the woods have disappeared, and Arlon is chiefly notable for the extensive views obtainable from the church of St Donat which crowns the peak . Arlon is no longer fortified . When Vauban by order of Louis XIV. turned it into a fortress in 1671 great damage was done to the old Roman wall, the foundations of which were practically intact . In the local museum are many Roman antiquities collected on the spot, including several large sculptural stones similar to the celebrated monument at Igel near Treves . In the middle ages Arlon was the seat of a powerful countship (later marquisate), held after 1235 by the dukes of Luxemburg . As an important strategic position it was several times seized by the French, e.g. in 1647 and 1651 .