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
Famous quotes containing the words middle ages, antiquity, early, middle and/or ages:
“In public buildings set aside for the care and maintenance of the goods of the middle ages, a staff of civil service art attendants praise all the dead, irrelevant scribblings and scrawlings that, at best, have only historical interest for idiots and layabouts.”
—George Grosz (1893–1959)
“When we dream about those who are long since forgotten or dead, it is a sign that we have undergone a radical transformation and that the ground on which we live has been completely dug up: then the dead rise up, and our antiquity becomes modernity.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“No two men see the world exactly alike, and different temperaments will apply in different ways a principle that they both acknowledge. The same man will, indeed, often see and judge the same things differently on different occasions: early convictions must give way to more mature ones. Nevertheless, may not the opinions that a man holds and expresses withstand all trials, if he only remains true to himself and others?”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)
“Radicalism is the opium of the middle class.”
—Christina Stead (1902–1983)
“I attribute the quarrelsome nature of the Middle Ages young men entirely to the want of the soothing weed.”
—Jerome K. Jerome (1859–1927)