 During the 3rd century AD, the city became known as Portus Namnetum, then Nantes in the Middle Ages.They are mentioned as "Namnitō͂n" (Ναμνιτῶν) by Polybius (2nd c. BC) and Strabo (early 1st c. AD), as "Namnetes" by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC) and Pliny (1st c. AD), and as "Namnē͂tai" (Ναμνῆται) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD).According to Strabo, quoting Poseidonios, there is an island in the Ocean near the outlet of the Loire river which was inhabited by the "women of the Samnitae," which is generally taken to be a mistake and actually refers to the "Namnitae" or Namnetes.