Nicolas Bergier, Avocat au Siège Présidial de Rheims, lived in 17th-century Rheims and became interested in Roman roads there. Mentioning by chance his interest in the funding of Roman roads to Conde du Lis, advisor to Louis XIII, he found himself suddenly commanded by the king to undertake a study of all Roman roads. Five years later he published his Histoire des Grands Chemins de l'Empire Romain, a two-volume work of over 1000 pages. There were many subsequent editions. This first scholarly study of Roman roads included engravings of the Tabula Peutingeriana. Edward Gibbon consulted Bergier's work while researching his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Famous quotes containing the word nicolas:
“When a man and a woman have an overwhelming passion for each other, it seems to me, in spite of such obstacles dividing them as parents or husband, that they belong to each other in the name of Nature, and are lovers by Divine right, in spite of human convention or the laws.”
—Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)