Description

In this sweeping narrative the listener is taken back to the very roots of what would become one of the world’s most celebrated cities. The story begins on the islands of the Seine, where a small tribe of bateliers built modest huts that the Romans later called Lutetia, and follows their fierce resistance when Caesar’s legions arrived. Through vivid detail the early landscape of marshes, forests and the first wooden bridges comes alive, giving a sense of how geography shaped the fledgling community.

The account then moves forward to the Roman era, describing how the conquest turned the humble settlement into a bustling provincial capital, complete with baths, streets and the first printed works. It also highlights moments of cultural intrigue, such as Emperor Julian’s brief residence in the thermal palace and the intellectual activity that began to flourish. By the end of the first part, listeners will have a clear picture of how Paris evolved from a modest riverine village into a city of growing importance under the monarchy.

Details

Language

Duration

~10 hours (633K characters)

Publisher of text edition

Project Gutenberg

Credits

Produced by Mireille Harmelin, Christine P. Travers and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr)

Release date

2006-07-18

Rights

Public domain in the USA.

Source

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18865