Antiquity and Early Middle Ages
Geneva first appears in history as a border town, fortified against the Celtic tribe Helvetii, which the Romans took in 121 BC. In 52 BC, Julius Caesar, Roman Governor of Gaul, destroyed the bridge on the Rhone river at the place that would become Geneva in order to block the passage of the Helvetii. In 58 BC, Caesar helped establish Geneva as a Roman city (vicus and then civitas) by setting up camp there and significantly increasing its size.
In 443, Geneva was taken by Burgundy, and with the latter fell to the Franks in 534. In 888 the town was part of the new Kingdom of Burgundy, and with it was taken over in 1033 by the German Emperor.
In 563, according to the writings of Gregory of Tours and Marius Aventicensis, a tsunami swept along Lake Geneva, destroying many settlements, and causing numerous deaths in Geneva. Simulations indicate that this Tauredunum event was most likely caused by a massive landslide near where the Rhone flows into the lake, which caused a wave eight meters high to reach Geneva within 70 minutes.
Read more about this topic: History Of Geneva
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Stella Chess (20th century)
“If these Essays were worthy of being judged, it might fall out, in my opinion, that they would not find much favour, either with common and vulgar minds, or with uncommon and eminent ones: the former would not find enough in them, the latter would find too much; they might manage to live somewhere in the middle region.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“So forth and brighter fares my stream,—
Who drink it shall not thirst again;
No darkness stains its equal gleam,
And ages drop in it like rain.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)