URBANISM CLERGET. 



657 



Cities were built either around some old Roman camp or at the 

 crossing of a river, or around a church, an abbey, or fortified chateau. 

 The plan differed according to the origin, and extension was made 

 irregularly, following the topography, or concentrically around one 

 or many centers. 



Paris, the ancient Lutece, began on the lie de la Cite. Although 

 that place, covered with a bed of muddy alluvia, was not at all 

 suited for habitation, yet it was an island well located and specially 

 favorable for defense, being a direct extension of a natural stretch 

 of land. The right bank of the river being only an inhosj^itable 

 marsh, Paris extended first along on the left bank and climbed up 

 Mount St. Genevieve. But it is the river after all that continues 

 to dommate the city, thanks to the '' Corporation des Nautes." 

 The invasion of the Barbarians reenforced its defense; the fortified 

 city gained in Importance. The Francs came, were converted, and 

 Christianity began in earnest the transformation whence emerged 

 the Paris of the Middle Ages and of modern times. Capital of France, 

 she grew uj) with regal power.^ 



In the Middle Ages wars were frequent, and cities sought, above 

 everything, positions for defense; but after they had built up the 

 heights, settlements were made in the plain when relative peace 

 prevailed attracted by the presence of water and fields for cultiva- 

 tion. The city was often made up of two distinct elements: One 

 inhabited by soldiers and agriculturists, the other by merchants, 

 'The Flemish city," writes M. Pirenne, ''was made by joining ,a 



> Marcel Poete: L'enfance de Paris. Paris, Colin, 1908. The population attributed to Paris at sue- 

 CGSsive periods is as follows: 



