Around 5300 BCE, the neolithic starts in the region. With it, many new things start in the Low Countries, such as agriculture, small-scale animal husbandry, wooden longhouses and pottery. A divide remains however. Above the river Rhine, a hunter-gatherer society remains active, whilst a more sedimentary society settles below the river. The Linear Pottery culture settles in regions such as Limburg, making their settlements the first of the Low Countries. Around 4250 BCE, they become advanced enough to manage small towns, making their settlements some of the Benelux's oldest towns. After about 700 years, the culture disappears, presumably being driven out by hostile cultures. They, however, did interact with the hunter-gatherers in the lower-lying swamps, and these hunter-gatherers slowly took over some of their customs like the domestication of animals.

The region becomes important in neolithic Europe around 3800 BCE, when flint is mined in large amounts around Spiennes, Belgium. Spiennes thereby is the oldest-known flint mine of Europe, earning it a listing as UNESCO World Heritage. On the Dutch-Belgian border, in Rijckholt near Eijsden, one of the oldest mines of Europe comes into operation as well. Rijckholt, consisting of some 5000 small mines, produced about 40,000 tonnes of flint over its thousand-year tenure. Other notable remnants of this age are found in the Northern Netherlands and towards the border of France, where dolmen were erected as funerary structures. Similarly, menhirs were erected in much of Belgium, the largest of which is found near Tournai.

Around 2100 BCE, the Bronze Age begins, and mostly brings specialisation along. Trade becomes a lot more important to humans in this period, and with trade, so does purchasing power and status. This then gets expressed through the possession of high-quality goods, such as the Jutphaas Sword - One of five similar swords found in Britany, England, and elsewhere in the Low Countries. Around 1300 BCE, a notable shift in funerary traditions takes place, with the standard shifting from burial to cremation. Around the same time, natural landscapes such as peat swamps are known to have played a role in the rituals of humans. Temples have been found in these swamps, as well as bog bodies - presumed human sacrifices.

During the Iron Age, rituals shift towards thermal water sources, and temples get built around them. Health cults of the Celtic cultures are presumed remnants of those rituals. Similar to the Celts, priests and doctors ('Veleta') were highly regarded among the Gallic people living in parts of Belgium. Germanic and Celtic cultures in general dictate most of the day-to-day lives of people during this time. The Low Countries are mostly settled by the Hilversum culture (Belgium and the Netherlands below the Rhine), Hoogkarspel culture (Western Netherlands) and the Erp culture (Eastern and Northern Netherlands, as well as much of Northwest Germany).

The first fortified trading towns and hill forts are known to date from 700 BCE, and warriors become a distinct social class. In Friesland and Groningen, towns are founded on top of mounds (Terpen or Wierden), many of which still form the basis of towns in these provinces. Meanwhile, between the Rhine and Seine rivers, the Belgic people establish themselves. Coins get introduced into society around 450 BCE.

That the people inhabiting the Low Countries at this time were mighty and capable, is shown by the invasion of the Senones into Rome in either 390 or 387 BCE. Only after paying hefty sums of money, do the invaders from around the river Seine leave Rome. Several hundred years later, the expansion of the Roman Empire would mean the Celtic and Germanic tribes of the Low Country ended up displaced, with some Belgii settling in southeastern England.

Prehistoric settlements in the Benelux.

• 50.42473.98731 Spiennes — The largest and oldest neolithic flint mine of Europe, having been in use between 4300 and 2300 BCE. Spiennes flints were distributed throughout most of western Europe.
• 52.79156.90762 Drentse Hondsrug — Hill ridge in the north of the Netherlands, on which a substantial amount of dolmen (Hunebedden) remain standing. These were originally in use as iron age burial structures, in use between 3450 BCE and 2850 BCE. Their burial chambers are built out of Scandinavian rocks, deposited during the ice age.
• 50.33954.28683 Thuin — City in the southwest of Wallonia, which has been used as a settlement sporadically from the neolithic onwards. Around 100 BCE, Celtic tribes created a hillfort here, which became permanently inhabited around the time of the Roman conquest of Gaul. The hillfort has been under siege by the Romans, and was used as a settlement during Roman times. Presumably the settlement remained inhabited after the fall of Rome, as it was still a notable city in the eighth century, blossoming in the tenth century.
• 50.1635.64764 Le Cheslé — Located in a meander of the river Ourthe, this 14 hectares (0.054 sq mi)-large Celtic fortification has been a strategic and hard-to-reach stronghold located some 80 metres (87 yd) above the river. It is the largest Celtic settlement in Belgium known to date, and has been in use between the eighth and sixth century BCE. Large parts of the fortifications have been recreated in situ.

These are more or less the major Belgian settlements that were founded in Roman times. Most of its territory is found in Northern France. Belgium itself was rather sparsely populated with major Roman settlements.

• 49.68435.81535 Arlon (Orolaunum) (est. <57 BCE) — Whilst the area around Arlon has been inhabited since as early as the 15th century BCE, the first time history tells us of an actual settlement is in the Itinerarium Antonini, a third-century CE Roman travel guide. The town was originally a settlement of the Treveri, which became Roman after his conquest passed through this region in 57 BCE. Orolaunum was expanded and fortified, and became a well-off trading hub. The Roman roads from Reims to Trier and Metz to Tongeren met here, making the settlement a logical place for mercantilism. A temple in the town was dedicated to the Celtic and Roman gods of war, and the thermae built in the first century were used until after the Romans left. When Germanic tribes invade the region in the third century, the settlement gets moved to a better defensible hillside. Remnants of the Treveri-Roman settlement remain to be seen; two of the settlement's tower's ruins can be viewed, as well as the thermae ruins. A more complete version of this history though, can be seen in the Archaeological Museum of Arlon.

• 50.78075.46436 Tongeren (Atuaca Tungrorum) (est. ±51 BCE) — To ensure safety and peace in Gallia Belgica, the Romans founded many army encampments, of which Tongeren was one. The city is presumably established around 51 BCE, when the Tungri people are permitted to settle in the lands formerly occupied by the Eburones. The city was named after the Tungri tribe. With the start of the Pax Romana (Roman Peace), the city lost its military function and became inhabited by the Tongri tribe. The city was destroyed during the Batavian Uprising (69-70 CE), but was swiftly rebuilt. The rebuilt city grew rich again after the completion of a road connecting to Cassel in France, and an aquaduct supplying the city with drinking water. Under Trajan (98-117 CE), Tungrorum was promoted to be the capital of its civitas, and became a garrisoned city to feed the supply line for the Rhine border. The city became quite prestigious, featuring a multitude of temples, thermae, a forum, grain depot and amphitheatre. During the second century, the town was fortified with a 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi)-long wall, making the city larger than Cologne, the capital of Germania Inferior. During the fourth century, after years of political instability, the city wall was reduced to 2.6 kilometres (1.6 mi) to fend off the Franks and Vandals. The city kept growing despite this, and became the capital of the Diocese of Tongeren (later of Maastricht, then Liège) in 280 CE. Tongeren was conquered by the Franks under Clovis' reign. It kept its importance, but didn't exactly flourish again until the eleventh century when a fortified monastery was built, which allowed the city to regain its role as a trade hub.
• 50.6073.38917 Tournai (Turnacum) (est. <14 CE) — Found along the Via Belgica, Tournai came to be founded as a Roman city, following a checkerboard pattern layout, and would grow to a size of 40 hectares (0.15 sq mi), covering both banks of the river Scheldt. The city was equipped with paved roads, stone buildings, and a sewer. Turnacum grew into an important industrial centre, even though it was originally only a secondary settlement to Castellum Menapiorum (Cassel, France). Stone and textiles were the city's main produce, and were shipped from a small harbour on the right bank of the Scheldt. Political instability caused the city to shrink in the third and fourth centuries, and the city on the right bank of the Scheldt was abandoned. The city was fortified during this period as well, and around 320 CE, the capital of the civitas (region) shifted from Menapiorum to Turnacum, which would become the later Diocese of Tournai. The Roman city was conquered by the Franks, who used the city as their capital until 486 CE, housing the Frankish kings Childeric I and Clovis. The latter of which conquered Tongeren.
• 50.7783.04268 Wervik (Viroviacum) — Viroviacum doesn't have an established date of founding. The town was located by a ford in the river Leie, presumably having been expanded from a pre-existing Menapii settlement. The agrarian settlement flourished particularly well during the second half of the first, and first half of the second century. The town was never re-enforced with battlements of any kind, but local findings indicate that it might be one of Belgium's most ancient settlements.
• 50.41314.15069 Waudrez (Vodgoriacum) — Founded as a small statio, a kind of Roman lay-by along the road with facilities for spending the night, Vodgoriacum expanded into a proper vicus or city, possibly re-enforced with an oppidum.

The part of Germania Inferior that lies within the Low Countries more or less corresponds to the modern-day Netherlands. As the river Rhine formed the frontier of the Roman Empire up until the Fall of Rome, the Netherlands are quite densely populated with Roman settlements. Many of these were just small fortified army camps, but the group below make up the main cities of the Dutch part of Lower Germania.

• 52.12914.661310 Alphen aan den Rijn (Albaniana) (est. <± 40 AD) — Located along the Oude Rijn (Old Rhine) river, then the main channel of the Rhine, Alphen was primarily a military settlement, founded to defend the Roman Empire's northernmost border. The military castellum was quite isolated from other Roman colonies. Its wooden wall was demolished by the Cananefates during the Revolt of the Batavi (69-70 AD), and then rebuilt by a brick wall. During its heyday, the camp would have seen about 400 Roman soldiers stationed there. Similar to other forts along the Limes, a civilian settlement (vicus) was located close-by, and local Batavians and Cananefates influenced the Romans and vice versa. This was further made possible by the Romans constructing the first bridge across the Rhine here. Around 270 AD, the castellum was abandoned, which allowed for local tribes to expand their control. The main Roman settlement would have stood around the Rijnplein, where several references to Alphen's Roman history have been incorporated into the street design, as most of the former castellum has been demolished and its materials repurposed in the two millennia since.
• 50.88735.9811 Heerlen (Coriovallum) — Located where the Via Treverorum and Via Belgica meet, Coriovallum was a notable settlement without doubt. Most notably, its thermae have been excavated, making them the oldest, biggest and best-preserved Dutch building from antiquity. A museum about Roman life in the Netherlands (Thermenmuseum) has been built around the excavation.
• 52.21124.378812 Valkenburg (Lugdunum Batavorum) — Lugdunum is a Celtic-Roman settlement that made for the northwest-most settlement along the Lower Germanic Limes, near to where Katwijk lies today. Just beyond the current shoreline lie the remains of a Roman fortification dubbed "Brittenburg", which was part of the Roman fortifications along the empire's borders. The settlement's suffix (meaning "of the Batavi") might have been a later fabrication, as the settlement lied in territory of the Cananefates. Lugdunum's main use was as a naval base and trade harbour. The nearest Roman settlement that hasn't been swallowed by the waves is in nearby Valkenburg, the town centre of which sits atop a Roman castellum. The town's Roman history has been made visible around the Castellumplein.
• 50.84935.693313 Maastricht (Mosa Trajectum) — It is unknown when exactly Mosa Trajectum has been founded, but Celtic settlement in the area has been dated back as far as 500 BC. The first solid date known for Roman activity here, is during the reign of Julius Caesar (27 BC - 14 AD), when the bridge across the river Meuse (Roman: Mosa) was constructed. The Roman castrum was relatively small, but was a huge hub of activity, due to its river crossing. Remains of Roman Maastricht can be seen and visited. The Centre Ceramique on the opposite bank of the Meuse has a collection of Roman finds, and the Hotel Derlon contains within it the remains of a temple dedicated to Jupiter.
• 51.84665.861914 Nijmegen (Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum) (est. 15 BC) — Often simply called Noviomagus, Roman Nijmegen consisted of three main parts. One gigantic army camp (called Castrum Hunnerberg), one smaller camp (Castellum Kops Plateau), and a Batavian settlement (Oppium Batavorum or Batavodurum). Initially, a 42 hectares (4,500,000 sq ft) Roman camp (castrum) was built on the Hunnerberg in 15 BC, which could house two full legions. The castrum is presumed to have been used as a base of operations for Drusus the Elder's invasion of Germania in 12 BC. Two years later, the large camp was replaced with a smaller one on the Kops Plateau, which could house 800 men. After the Roman defeat under Varus in 9 AD, the old camp was reconstructed to house mostly officers and cavalry. It is presumed that Oppidum Batavorum (the Batavian Settlement) was founded by the Romans themselves in 10 BC, to control and house the Batavian tribes in the area.

Oppidum Batavorum was destroyed during the Batavian Revolt of 69 AD. After the revolt, a new wooden camp was built on the Hunnerberg, and around 90 AD, this wooden camp was rebuilt in stone. The camp got its water supply via an aqueduct running east into Berg en Dal. Around the camp a city (vicus) sprang up. Around the former site of Oppidum Batavorum, a crossing of the river Waal was established, and beyond that a new settlement sprang up, called Ulpia Noviomagus. All settlements in modern-day Nijmegen, contained some five to six thousand inhabitants at its peak. It is presumed that in the third century, Noviomagus didn't have much relevance any more, since the Franks don't seem to have fought for the settlement during the collapse of the Roman Empire.

After the Romans definitively left, the town fell into Merovingian hands, and much later, in 1230, would become a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. Being one of the foremost settlements along the Roman Limes, much of former Noviomagus today has become UNESCO World Heritage.

• 52.09085.12215 Utrecht (Traiectum) (est. ± 50 AD) — In the centre of the former Roman fort of Traiectum, today stands Utrecht's Dom Church. The fort was located down a branch of the Limes road, and wound up being abandoned by the Romans around 270 AD. Subsequently it went back and forth between the polytheist Frisii and Christian Franks, with the Franks permanently taking the settlement in 719 AD. Under Frankish rule, the fort retained its function, with a vast trade settlement springing up around it. The Latin name of Traiectum evolved into the Dutch word 'Trecht', making it the oldest known Latin loanword in Dutch. In medieval times, the name Trecht was used for both Utrecht and Maastricht, leading to the U- and Maas- prefixes to differentiate the two.
• 52.06044.348216 Voorburg (Forum Hadriani) — Forum Hadriani would have originally been a settlement of the Cananefates, who settled around the old mouths of the rivers Rhine and Meuse. When Corbulo's Canal (Latin: Fossa Corbulonis) was dug between Matilo (Leiden) and Helinium (near Naaldwijk) around 50 AD, the settlement grew into a trade post. During the reign of emperor Domitanus (81 - 96 AD), Forum Hadriani got a regional government and possibly a forum (central market square). Emperor Hadrian (of Hadrian's Wall fame) lends his name to the town of Forum Hadriani. During one of his travels in the north-west reaches of the empire, he visited the town of the Cananefates, and gave it market rights. Shortly after his visit, under stimulation from the Roman army, the entire town was rebuilt by Roman design, and given the name it's known by today: Forum Hadriani (Hadrian's Market). The town was given city rights by Hadrian's adoptive son, Antoninus Pius around 150 AD, giving Voorburg claim to being the Netherlands' second-oldest city after Noviomagus (Nijmegen). During this time, the city's first harbour along Corbulo's Canal was made.

Later in its existence, Forum Hadriani came to suffer more and more from epidemics, raids by Saxon pirates, water management, and invasions by the Frisii. It is presumed that the city became abandoned after the fall of the Gallic empire (274 AD). When the Romans reconquered the Rhine delta, the city was never rebuilt. The stone houses were likely dismantled during the early middle ages for construction projects elsewhere. No visible historic traces are left where the city stood, in any case. The park Arentsburg largely overlaps Forum Hadriani, and got a memorial to the Roman city in 2000. In the nearby neighbourhood, the outline of the city walls are incorporated into the street's surface (visible on Effathalaan, Den Burghstraat and Arentsburghlaan).

Whilst there are no cities in Luxembourg that are founded by the Romans, most of their legacy in the small country comes in the form of individual villas. Its most prominent sites are:

• Ricciacum (Dalheim, near Mondorf-les-Bains), a notable settlement on the Via Agrippa, connecting the Meuse with the Mediterranean. Nowadays, a well-preserved theatre from the second century is the main remnant. In its heyday, it could house some 3500 people. Ricciacum was founded in the first century, after Caesar's invasion, and became abandoned after being sacked and raided several times in the third and fourth century. In 407 CE, the settlement was abandoned altogether.
• Echternach, which is one of Luxembourg's oldest still-inhabited cities, has a preserved Roman villa near the Lac d'Echternach.
• Mamer, near Bertrange is home to a decent amount of Roman finds. Best-visited are the conserved foundations of a bathhouse on the banks of the Mamer.

• Antwerp
• 51.2088893.2241671 Bruges
• Ghent
• Kortrijk
• Leuven
• Mechelen

• Echternach
• 49.6105566.1327782 Luxembourg

• Amsterdam (52.3724.8963 Centrum and Canal District)
• Den Bosch
• Delft
• Gouda
• 52.084.314 The Hague
• Heerlen
• Leiden
• Maastricht
• Nijmegen
• Utrecht
• Voorburg
• Zutphen