Although many cities have their origins in early modern times, quite a few trace their history back to antiquity. Here are the ancient roots of five of the world’s most famous metropolises.
Beneath Paris lie the remains of a city originally built by a Celtic tribe, the Parisii, who lived there by the time the Romans swept through Gaul and brutally conquered its peoples. Writes Strabo in his "Geography," "The Parisii dwell along the river Seine, and inhabit an island formed by the river; their city is Lucotocia," or Lutetia. Ammianus Marcellinus says, "The Marne and the Seine, rivers of identical size; they flow through the district of Lyons, and after encircling in the manner of an island a stronghold of the Parisii called Lutetia, they unite in one channel, and flowing on together pour into the sea…"
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