The area around Nantes has been inhabited since prehistoric times by the Celtic Namnetes tribe. It grew into an important port called Condevincum during Roman rule, then further expanded as a commercial and political center under the Dukes of Brittany in the Middle Ages. Nantes became wealthy in the 17th-18th centuries through its involvement in the Atlantic slave trade and grew its port, though it was damaged in WWII and has since rebuilt as a modern cultural and economic center of innovation and education.