The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word CARTHAGE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
C
A
R
T
H
A
G
E
More clues leading to the result CARTHAGE
- Haul crone before cardinal – an enemy of Rome
- Old city transport outside hotel
- Phoenician state wagon – Tyre’s last – transporting crone
- 7 21 at Dido’s place
- Convey fury with Spain to ancient capital
- Vehicle with A-reg vacated in the ancient city
- Following vehicle note nasty woman’s in state no more
- Old city vehicle taking hours, long time
- Imprisoned legendary King losing old city, victim of the Punic Wars
- Ancient city: a bit of history in horse-drawn era?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Old city" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case old city = carthage.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.