Nimes. Nîmes is a city in the Occitanie region of southern France. It is the capital of the Gard department. Nîmes is located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Cévennes mountains. The estimated population of Nîmes is 151,001. Dubbed the most Roman city outside Italy, Nîmes has a rich history dating back to the Roman Empire when the city was a regional capital, and home to 50,000–60,000 people. Several famous monuments are in Nîmes, such as the Arena of Nîmes and the Maison Carrée. Because of this, Nîmes is often referred to as the French Rome. The city derives its name from that of a spring in the Roman village. The contemporary coat of arms of the city of Nîmes includes a crocodile chained to a palm tree with the inscription COL NEM, for Colonia Nemausus, meaning the colony or settlement of Nemausus, the local Celtic god of the Volcae Arecomici. Veterans of the Roman legions who had served Julius Caesar in his Nile campaigns, at the end of fifteen years of soldiering, were given plots of land to cultivate on the plain of Nîmes. The city was located on the Via Domitia, a Roman road constructed in 118 BC which connected Italy with Spain. Its name appears in inscriptions in Gaulish as dede matrebo Namausikabo = he has given to the mothers of Nîmes and toutios Namausatis = citizen of Nîmes. The site on which the built-up area of Nîmes has become established in the course of centuries is part of the edge of the alluvial plain of the Vistrenque River which butts up against low hills: to the northeast, Mont Duplan; to the southwest, Montaury; to the west, Mt. Cavalier and the knoll of Canteduc. The Neolithic site of Serre Paradis reveals the presence of semi-nomadic cultivators in the period 4000 to 3500 BC on the future site of Nîmes. The population of the site increased during the thousand-year period of the Bronze Age. The menhir of Courbessac stands in a field, near the airstrip. This limestone monolith of over two metres in height dates to about 2500 BC, and must be considered the oldest monument of Nîmes. The Bronze Age has left traces of villages that were made out of huts and branches The Warrior of Grezan is considered to be the most ancient indigenous sculpture in southern Gaul. The hill named Mt. Cavalier was the site of the early oppidum, which gave birth to the city. During the third and 2nd centuries BC a surrounding wall was built, closed at the summit by a dry-stone tower, which was later incorporated into the masonry of the Tour Magne. The Wars of Gaul and the fall of Marseille allowed Nîmes to regain its autonomy under Rome. Nîmes became a Roman colony sometime before 28 BC, as witnessed by the earliest coins, which bear the abbreviation NEM. COL, Colony of Nemausus. sanctuary and other constructions connected with the fountain were raised on the site. Nîmes was already under Roman influence, though it was Augustus who made the city the capital of Narbonne province, and gave it all its glory. It was also known as the birthplace of the family of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius. The city had an estimated population of 60,000 in the time of Augustus. Augustus gave the town a ring of ramparts six kilometres long, reinforced by fourteen towers; two gates remain today: the Porta Augusta and the Porte de France. An aqueduct was built to bring water from the hills to the north. Where this crossed the River Gard between Uzes and Remoulins, the spectacular Pont du Gard was built. This is 20 kilometres north east of the city. Also, the Maison Carrée is one of the best preserved temples to be found anywhere in the territory of the former Roman Empire; it later inspired the design of the Virginia State Capitol at Richmond. Nothing remains of some other monuments, the existence of which is known from inscriptions or architectural fragments found in the course of excavations. It is known that the town had a civil basilica, a curia, a gymnasium and perhaps a circus. The amphitheatre dates from the end of the 2nd century AD and was one of the largest amphitheatres in the Empire.