The Ancient City (La Cité antique), published in 1864, is the most famous book of the French historian Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges (1830-1889). Taking inspiration from René Descartes, and based on texts of ancient historians and poets, the author investigates the origins of the most archaic institutions of Greek and Roman society. In the preface of the book, he warns of the error that lies in examining the habits of ancient people with reference to those of today, when it is necessary to avoid our biases and study ancient peoples in the light of the facts.