The toponomy is Gaulish, Rod-Onna
("flowing water") which became Rodumna,
then Rouhanne and Roanne. The town was sited at a
strategic point, the head of navigation on the Loire, below its narrow gorges.
As a trans-shipping point, its importance declined with the collapse of
long-distance trade after the fourth century. In the twelfth century, the site
passed to the comte du Forez, under whose care it began to recover. An overland
