History of Geneva History of Geneva The History of Geneva dates from before the Roman occupation in the second century BC. Now the principal French-speaking city of Switzerland, Geneva was an independent city state from the Middle Ages until the end of the 18th century. John Calvin was the Protestant leader of the city in the 16th century. Geneva first appears in history as an Allobrogian border town, fortified against the Celtic Helvetii tribe, which the Romans took in 121 BC. In 58 BC, Caesar, Roman governor of Gaul, destroyed the Rhône bridge at Geneva and built a 19-mile earthwork from Lake Geneva
History of Geneva reforms. However France, Bern and Savoy sent a military force to Geneva, causing the leading revolutionaries to flee to nearby Neuchâtel (then under Prussia), saying they would refound Geneva elsewhere along with industrious fellow-citizens. The invaders imposed a new constitution on Geneva entrenching the aristocracy. This caused many Genevans to emigrate and try to build a new Geneva at, for example, Waterford, Cologne or Brussels. Many radical émigrés went on to do great things, such as participating in the French Revolution (1789–1799). During the French Revolution period, aristocratic and democratic factions again contended for control of Geneva. In 1798, however,