Ancient places and their modern names
Last updated: 15 October 2026
The large majority of GeoPursuit's History questions are about places of the ancient world, and they are usually given by their ancient name. That sounds hard, but the names follow patterns, and a lot of them survive in the modern name.
Many ancient cities are modern cities
The easiest wins are places that are still big towns today:
- Londinium is London, Eboracum is York, Aquae Sulis is Bath.
- Lutetia is Paris, Lugdunum is Lyon, Massilia is Marseille.
- Vindobona is Vienna, Colonia Agrippina is Cologne.
- Byzantium, later Constantinople, is Istanbul.
- Neapolis is Naples, Mediolanum is Milan.
Read the name
Latin names carry clues. Aquae means waters — a spa town. Portus is a harbour. Castra is a legionary camp, which is why so many English towns end in -chester, -caster or -cester. Colonia was a settlement of veterans, Augusta and Julia honour an emperor's family, and Forum marks a market town. Greek -polis means city and Neo- means new; Greek colonies ring the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
Think in provinces and roads
The Roman Empire at its height surrounded the Mediterranean, reached Britain in the north-west, the Rhine and Danube in the north, and Mesopotamia in the east. If the name looks Latin, the answer is probably inside that ring; if it looks Greek, think of the Aegean, southern Italy, Sicily and the coast of western Turkey. Carthaginian and Phoenician names point to North Africa, southern Spain and the islands of the western Mediterranean.
Follow the water
Ancient trade moved by water, so ancient places are on coasts, navigable rivers and the passes between them. When you do not recognise a name, place your pin on the coast of the most likely sea. You will often land within a few hundred kilometres, which still scores well.
Practise with a purpose
Play a practice run in History, and after each answer read the fact panel: it names the modern city or region. Within a few runs the pattern of names becomes familiar. The general tips page covers the latitude and longitude shortcuts that apply to every category.