Which is absurd because the Romans had used this term first [1] (I mean, compared to the Europeans that set up colonies in the 1500s-1700s), with pretty tame connotations, for crying out loud, there's an entire German city which got its name from it, Köln.
> however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city.
> however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonia_(Roman)