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Biggest Cities once in the Roman Empire

Name the most populous modern-day urban areas whose territory was once part of the Roman Empire.
Based on urban area population according to citypopulation.de, January 2024
Only includes area held by the Romans for at least 100 years
Two loosely-defined German areas are given
These cities didn't necessarily exist in Roman times
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: March 8, 2024
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First submittedOctober 30, 2015
Times taken60,655
Average score65.4%
Rating4.60
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Population
City
22.5 m
Cairo
15.9 m
Istanbul
14.9 m
London
11.5 m
Paris
6.65 m
Madrid
6.20 m
Alexandria
6.10 m
Milan
6.00 m
Amman
5.65 m
The Ruhr
5.15 m
Ankara
Population
City
5.00 m
Cologne / Düsseldorf
4.88 m
Barcelona
4.78 m
Casablanca
4.25 m
Algiers
4.05 m
Naples
3.88 m
Damascus
3.58 m
Athens
3.43 m
Rome
3.40 m
Rotterdam / The Hague
3.30 m
Frankfurt
Population
City
3.25 m
Birmingham
3.15 m
Manchester
3.00 m
Izmir
2.95 m
Tel Aviv
2.75 m
Brussels
2.70 m
Tunis
2.50 m
Budapest
2.50 m
Lisbon
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78 Comments
Arp2600
+8
Level 86
Oct 30, 2015
Mesopotamia was never really a Roman province. First the Parthians then the Sassanid Persians were powerful rivals of the Romans that held that territory quite firmly. Trajan and Septimius Severus managed to conquer it but each time only briefly. Thus, I don't think it's a good idea to consider Baghdad and Kuwait City here.
peskychocolatedevil
+17
Level 34
May 11, 2016
That's not the point. Rome still controlled Baghdad and Kuwait City. It doesn't really matter how long for in the quiz.
Arp2600
+8
Level 86
Mar 24, 2018
It does. To be part of the Roman Empire requires more than a mere occupation.
Quizmaster
+31
Level ∞
Feb 2, 2018
I changed the quiz to only includes areas held for at least 100 years. Its true that the Romans never really controlled Mesopotamia.
Arp2600
+4
Level 86
Mar 24, 2018
That's wise. Thank you!
pewp3w
+3
Level 54
Apr 28, 2022
While I accept your decision, I have to kindly disagree. Sure, it wasn't part of the empire for long, but it was part of the empire.

Anyhow, nice quiz. Are those metropolitan numbers? I thought about typing Tel Aviv, Brussels and Frankfurt but though they surely are smaller than 2.5 million

trombonekid98
+4
Level 71
Oct 31, 2015
That moment when you missed two answers and it still says you beat or equals 100% of test takers.
IsleAuHaulte
+3
Level 89
Jul 5, 2018
That's changed. I forgot one, Carthage / Tunis, and only at 98%.
MayaB
+1
Level 73
Feb 26, 2021
It's even "worse" now. I also missed one and I'm better or as good as 79.1% of test takers.
thegoatisgoaty
+2
Level 71
Apr 29, 2021
I guess Jetpunkers are becoming smarter...
bowlwoman
+2
Level 68
Dec 12, 2015
I knew I was missing a city in Turkey (duh, the capital), and I could not for the LIFE of me remember the capital of Jordan. I didn't realize the Romans had founded Cologne, though. Those pesky border towns.
camus
+2
Level 78
Feb 27, 2021
Colonia
Almariel
+2
Level 59
Dec 12, 2015
Missed London. I didn't know the Roman empire stretched all the way to the UK.
kalbahamut
+9
Level 82
Dec 13, 2015
London and Bath, the two oldest cities in the UK, were both founded by Romans.
AllenY
+7
Level 69
Aug 4, 2016
Questionable...
mrnafe
+9
Level 83
Feb 2, 2018
Completely untrue, they weren't even the first Roman cities.
kalbahamut
+3
Level 82
May 9, 2018
Too bad there's no way to look this up on the Internet and find out who's right.
svitapeneela
+3
Level 65
May 9, 2018
I was under the impression Colchester was oldest? Depends on your definition of City I suppose.
kalbahamut
+5
Level 82
May 9, 2018
Yes, a lot of "oldest cities" titles have to do with semantics and definitions being used. The list I was referencing excludes Colchester because, even though it was settled shortly before Roman Londinium and Bath, it is thought to have been abandoned at some point between the 6th and 11th centuries. London and Aquae Sulis (Bath), on the other hand, have probably* been continuously inhabited since the Romans established a city center in each in 43 AD.

* there is some debate as to whether London was entirely or only mostly abandoned after the withdrawal of the Romans in the 5th century.

Maladroit
+6
Level 51
May 9, 2018
I'm pretty sure the actual founding date and founder(s) of London are unknown, its first mention being in the Magna Carta, where it was given all the powers it had had since...the past. Ambiguous. But first people to start continuous occupation does not mean founders.
kalbahamut
+3
Level 82
May 9, 2018
We know exactly when the Roman city of Londinium was founded. It was 43 AD, same year as the Roman conquest of England. There is evidence of human settlements in the London area dating back to the Bronze Age, though.
evileve
+1
Level 39
Apr 28, 2021
I think it's generally accepted that the city of London was abandoned as a functioning urban centre some time after the Romans left. Saxon London was further West, along what's now The Strand because that's where they were able to pull their boats onto a beach of sorts - hence the name.
jbrandagamba
+4
Level 41
Jan 13, 2019
They made it pretty far up the UK, as well, and famously failed to conquer the Picts in Scotland, hence Hadrian's Wall.
EEAAAHAHAHH
+2
Level 18
Dec 12, 2015
Budapest? Vienna? Amsterdam? I really thought those would be there
Arp2600
+4
Level 86
Dec 13, 2015
They are all too small to be on the list...
TheChosen
+7
Level 73
Dec 14, 2015
Amsterdam is north of the Rhine, and therefore not a part of the Roman empire
AllenY
+2
Level 69
Aug 4, 2016
The Romans got over the Rhine, see the forts the legions left for Teutoburg Forest from.
Quizmaster
+3
Level ∞
Feb 2, 2018
Amsterdam was just north of the Roman lines:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Limes1.png

Zladko
+1
Level 63
Jan 18, 2023
Amsterdam (even with urban area) doesn't get near the population of the lowest on this quiz (same for Rotterdam/The Hague). And the Romans didn't even get north of the Rhine, so they never got the area where Amsterdam is now
redsplat
+2
Level 73
Dec 15, 2015
Great idea for a quiz. Thanks for making it!
BrosephStalin
+3
Level 65
Jan 24, 2016
Where is Istanbul? Constantinople's part in Roman history is only a little bit important...
Quizmaster
+25
Level ∞
Jan 25, 2016
Third city on the list, Broseph.
cjkfutball
+2
Level 96
Jan 28, 2016
ya, only a little bit, it only became the capitol of the Empire when Constantine became emperor, and after the split of the empire, the Roman (western half) fell in around 500 CE, whereas the Constantinople (western half) became known as the Byzantine Empire (which was still the Roman Empire) until Constantinople fell almost 1000 YEARS LATER in 1453.
Antofagasta
+6
Level 70
Jun 8, 2017
To the two per cent of people who failed to get Rome, you...oh never mind, you know it's an absolute catastrophe.
ander217
+9
Level 75
May 9, 2018
Maybe they were called away before finishing the quiz, or maybe they thought they'd already typed it. That happens to me a lot - I'll think of two answers, type one, then move on before typing the other but I think I typed it. Then sometimes we just don't see the obvious. If you ask a number of people, "Who is buried in Grant's tomb," a few will scratch their heads and say they can't remember or don't know.
MrPowercord
+3
Level 59
May 10, 2018
My wife and three kids often call me away before I can finish quizzes .
thebigdp
+1
Level 88
Feb 27, 2021
Imagine my shock and horror to discover I forgot to type in the most obvious city. It is to laugh! Sigh
SpencerGT
+1
Level 68
Apr 28, 2021
T.T
hunjtg
+3
Level 72
Feb 2, 2018
Actually Budapest is not completely a correct answer, as the Danube was the border of the Roman empire, the Pannonia province contained only the Transdanubia part of the current territory of Hungary.

And unfortunately Pest, the main part of Budapest is on the other site of the river...

Quizmaster
+4
Level ∞
Feb 2, 2018
The Romans settled Pest as well.

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0006%3Aentry%3Daquincum

mf3
+2
Level 87
Feb 2, 2018
I thought Aleppo was quite a bit bigger than Damascus, but it's not on the list while Aleppo is.
kalbahamut
+7
Level 82
May 9, 2018
I was also under that impression. It might have something to do with different ways of measuring city sizes or it could be that millions of former residents of Aleppo are now dead or living in Turkey, Jordan, Greece, Germany and so on.
HendogJP
+1
Level 59
Feb 22, 2021
I would unfortunately say the latter. It dropped heavily in 2013-14 and is still recovering today.
JWatson24
+1
Level 71
Apr 19, 2021
What is Aleppo?
kalbahamut
+3
Level 82
Apr 28, 2021
Is that you, Gary Johnson?
WelshWizard
+2
Level 84
May 9, 2018
Is Cologne not populous enough?
kalbahamut
+3
Level 82
May 9, 2018
Cologne is included in the Cologne/Dusseldorf metro area which is already filled in for you.
GeographyGeek42
+2
Level 66
May 9, 2018
Every city I missed are ones I heard of and should have known.
mikeyp
+6
Level 67
May 9, 2018
Iz mir a city?
smartguy2
+4
Level 67
Nov 25, 2018
No
ace3349
+5
Level 69
Oct 18, 2018
Lol forgot Rome
Vekoma
+3
Level 45
May 24, 2019
I got Rotterdam but missed Lisbon :l
Sifhraven
+2
Level 71
Sep 2, 2019
I know approximately where the top border goes on the european continent, but totally forgot about the uk and africa... I kept typing in the biggest cities I could think of below the line (limes) in europe.. (which obviously didnt make the cut because of the uk and africa cities..)

That accounts for nearly all of my 12 misses.. All but tel aviv, amman and izmir (but the last though I would never have gotten, couldnt even tell you where they were, had to look it up..)

FadKrashmor
+3
Level 71
Jan 14, 2020
I am having a problem with spelling, or what people may consider correct spelling. What are the approved spellings to be found? (iIn this case ismir and smyrna did not work for me). But this kind of thing happens all over the place. Beijing/Peking, Calcutta/Kolkata and so on. As a Dutch speaker, I am happy with Brugge rather than Bruges, Ieper rather than Ypres. Kortrijk rather than Courtrai. So who decides?
FolgoreCZ
+7
Level 60
Aug 2, 2020
Probably a person speaking English, since the quizzes are in English, unless specifically stated otherwise. I live in Czechia, and most of city names are obviously different in Czech (for example: Rome=Řím, Paris=Paříž, Belgrade=Bělehrad, etc.). But I would have to be insane to complain that those are not accepted in English quizzes.
nicolasquiz
+1
Level 68
Jan 11, 2021
Fun quiz. Only missed the least guessed answer.
interopia
+1
Level 85
Feb 27, 2021
I really feel like "once" in the title should be capitalized.
AJS
+2
Level 80
Mar 1, 2021
Aleppo in Syria would have been on this list before the Syrian civil war. I assume the population has declined too much to qualify now.
BerryCJ
+2
Level 63
Mar 2, 2021
Missed Rome. 🤦‍♀️
mace0windu
+1
Level 68
Apr 28, 2021
Should Giza be included?
IBRK
+1
Level 72
Jan 20, 2023
part of the Cairo metropolitan area
jennraven
+1
Level 68
Apr 28, 2021
Definitely misread this as the Holy Roman Empire. Yeah, I didn't do well 🤦‍♀️
jennraven
+3
Level 68
Apr 28, 2021
The good news is that I got Rotterdam 🤷‍♀️
Laurens
+1
Level 59
Apr 30, 2021
As a Dutch person, Rotterdam/the Hague should not be on this list. These two cities together have a population of 1.1 million. The given number of 3.28 million is almost the entire province. If you keep it you should do it in the same way as the Ruhr.
turnbacktwo
+1
Level 43
May 2, 2021
It is Urban Area population
Zladko
+1
Level 63
Jan 18, 2023
Even with urban area population, Rotterdam and The Hague combined wouldn't even get near that number, I think the whole province doesn't even have 3,28 million inhabitants
Claudiospin
+1
Level 65
Apr 30, 2021
Why is Cologne/Dusseldorf filled but Rotterdam/The Hague don't?
turnbacktwo
+1
Level 43
May 2, 2021
They are part of the Rhine river
gewehr6628
+1
Level 46
May 5, 2021
only 98 percent get rome, hmmm
Angbo
+1
Level 65
May 30, 2021
How about Gaza?
cocachiantos
+1
Level 70
Nov 5, 2022
about 600 000 people live in Gaza City, while the whole Strip has about 2 million people.
NokiaQFikec
+1
Level 60
Jul 16, 2021
totally forgot about England :/
jbro
+1
Level 69
Sep 28, 2021
Amsterdam?
Zladko
+1
Level 63
Jan 18, 2023
Amsterdam has around 1 million inhabitants, I think somewhat under that.
Noamlol
+1
Level 44
Oct 13, 2022
you got wrong tel aviv, tel aviv has a population of 432,892 people and you put the population of gush dan (tel aviv and all of its surroundings)
Zladko
+1
Level 63
Jan 18, 2023
Rotterdam and The Hague both don't even have 1 million inhabitants. So Rotterdam/The Hague at 3 million? I don't think so
Daniel1712
+1
Level 67
Mar 3, 2023
Since when is Frankfurt so big, doesn’t it have only 700k inhabitants?
EiskalteFanta
+1
Level 32
Mar 15, 2023
Frankfurt does NOT have 3 million inhabitants. 750k!
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