i. Cities (De civitatibus) 1. Frequently we find dissension about who was responsible for the founding of cities, to such an extent that not even the origin of the city of Rome can accurately be known. Thus Sallust says (War with Catiline 6), “As I understand it, at first the Trojans, and with them the native peoples, first founded and settled the city of Rome.” Others say the founding was by Evander, as Vergil (Aen. 8.313):

Others, by Romulus, as (Vergil, Aen. 6.781):

2. Hence if no sure account of so great a city is available, it is no wonder that there is some doubt about opinion concerning other cities. Therefore we should not ignorantly condemn the historians and commentators who allege various things, for antiquity itself created the error. It is indeed proper to treat briefly some cities concerning which either the Sacred Scriptures or pagan histories reliably report the origin.

3. Before the Flood, Cain was the first to found a city, the city of Enoch in Naid, after the name of his son, and he filled that city with only the throng of his own descendants. 4. After the Flood, the giant Nimrod (Nembroth) first founded the Mesopotamian city of Babylon. Queen Semiramis of the Assyrians enlarged it, and made the wall of the city with bitumen and fired brick.