Gibbon on Paris

The future Emperor Julian, having fended off barbarian invasions in Gaul, spends the winter in Paris. It’s interesting to imagine Paris in this state:

“A mind like that of Julian must have felt the general happiness of which he was the author; but he viewed with peculiar satisfaction and complacency the city of Paris, the seat of his winter residence, and the object even of his partial affection. That splendid capital, which now embraces an ample territory on both sides of the Seine, was originally confined to the small island in the midst of the river, from whence the inhabitants derived a supply of pure and salubrious water. The river bathed the foot of the walls; and the town was accessible only by two wooden bridges. A forest overspread the northern side of the Seine; but on the south, the ground, which now bears the name of the university, was insensibly covered with houses, and adorned with a palace and amphitheatre, baths, an aqueduct, and a field of Mars for the exercise for the Roman troops.”

My favorite line is “a forest overspread the northern side of the Seine.” It’s refreshing to think of all of northern Paris as a forest.