Casimir Creuly was in the military and carried out a large part of his service in Africa. Following his retirement, in 1859, he became one of the most active members of the Commission de Topographie des Gaules.

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On his arrival at the Commission de Topographie des Gaules in 1859, General Creuly quickly established himself as one of its epigraphy specialists.

A military career

Casimir Creuly served in the military. He carried out a large part of his service in Africa and was a specialist in fortifications. In 1852, he played an active role in the census of epigraphic monuments in North Africa and with Léon Renier he founded the Société archéologique de Constantine. A member of the Société des antiquaires de France and its Normandy counterpart, he threw himself into the lively contemporary scientific debate surrounding epigraphy and published numerous articles in the Revue archéologique.

The leader of the CTG’s epigraphic work

Following his retirement, in 1859, he became one of the most active members of the Commission de Topographie des Gaules. Recommended by the Ministry of War, he was appointed to the commission for “his passion for ethnographic, archaeological and geographical studies” and threw himself into the initial project of collecting topographical inscriptions from across Gaul. Initially his work was focused on Latin epigraphy, but it quickly expanded beyond this original framework. He was named vice president of the CTG in 1873. He travelled around the country, filling his notebooks with copies, sketches and notes and producing estampages of inscriptions. He became responsible for coordinating the developing project to collect inscriptions from across Gaul. Some of his work was reproduced as epigraphic plates for display at the musée gallo-romain.

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