Lutetia (sometimes
Lutetia Parisiorum or
Lukotekia before, in
French
Lutèce) was a town in pre-Roman and
Roman Gaul.
The Gallo-Roman city was a forerunner of the
re-established Merovingian town that is
the ancestor of present-day Paris.
Lutetia
and Paris have little in common save their position where an
island, the Île de la Cité, created a convenient ford of the Seine.
The
primitive Lukotekia (Strabon,
Ptolemeus) > Lutetia (Caesar) maybe contains the Celtic root *luco-t- 'mouse' +
-ek(t)ia = 'the mice', Breton
logod, Welsh
llygod, Irish luch
(Bibracte,
*bibro 'beaver' + -acti = 'the
beavers').
Gallic origins
Somewhere in the immediate area was the chief settlement or
oppidum of the
Parisii, a
Gallic
people who settled in the area during the
3rd century BCE. However,
dendrochronological study of wooden pilings
beneath the lowest stratum of the Roman north-south axis date the
road's construction after 4 CE, more than fifty years after the
Roman pacification of the region.
Roman
Lutetia was founded above the flood-prone point where the Bièvre stream
reaches the river Seine, centered on
the slopes of the hill later dedicated to Saint Genevieve, on the left bank of the
Seine (modern-day Latin
Quarter). There were outlying suburbs on an island
across from the confluence, the Île de la Cité, which was the Merovingian and modern centre of Paris.
Urbanization
Map of Lutetia (18th century
rendering)
The regular grid-plan of Roman Lutetia marked it as the city, in
the Gallo-Roman sense. The city was the only sector in which,
starting in the 2nd century AD, public monuments were constructed.
The north-south axis was dictated by the need to cross the marshy
riverbanks in the shortest possible distance; several routes
converged at the bridgehead. The Roman public works were all on the
north-facing slope of the hill of Ste Genevieve. The discovery of
ancient paved roads, the established boundaries of the main
monuments—the forum at the top of the hill, theatre, baths— even
the path of certain medieval roads show that the Roman city was
laid out with a module of precisely 300 Roman feet. On the Left
Bank, the Rue St-Jacques and on the Right Bank, the Rue St-Martin
still follow the Roman main axis (
cardo maximus).
An
aqueduct 26 km in length, with a
flow rate estimated at 2000 cubic meters a day, watered the city
with spring water collected from several points. To bridge the
Bièvre valley at Arcueil-Cachan, a bridge was required, whose piers
and ruined arches, still discernible, gave rise to the
toponym Arcueil.
The
amphitheatre, built into the slope of the hillside outside the city
itself, is commonly referred to as Les Arènes de
Lutèce. It was one of the largest such
structures in Gaul.
Events
Model of the
Arènes de
Lutèce
The town was captured by the
Roman
Republic in 52 BC during the conquest of
Gaul under
Julius
Caesar.
The Lutetians backed the revolt of
Vercingetorix against the Romans under Caesar,
reportedly contributing 8,000 men to Vercingetorix's army.
It was
garrisoned by Vercingetorix's lieutenant Camulogenus, whose army
camped on the Mons Lutetius (where the Panthéon is now
situated). The Romans crushed the rebels at nearby
Melun and took control of Lutetia.
Under Roman rule, Lutetia was thoroughly Romanised with a
population estimated at around 8,000 people. It did not have a
great deal of political importance - the capital of its province,
Lugdunensis Senona, was Agedincum (modern
Sens,
Yonne). It was
Christianised in
the 3rd century, traditionally when
St Denis
became the city's first bishop.
The process was not entirely peaceful - in
about 250 St Denis and two companions were arrested and decapitated
on the hill of Mons Mercurius, where Roman foundations have been
found, thereafter known as Mons Martyrum (Martyrs' Hill, or
Montmartre).
Lutetia was renamed Paris in 360, taking its name from the Gallic
Parisii tribe
name. The name had already been used for centuries as an
adjective ("Parisiacus"). The legend of the Breton
city of
Ys suggests a different, if less likely,
origin.
Around the same time, the city quarter on the left Seine bank,
which housed the
baths, the theatres and the
amphitheatre, was gradually abandoned
with the population being concentrated on the island, which
received new
fortifications. The
classical theater began to be dismantled during the 4th
century.
For the
history of the city after its renaming, see the article on Paris.
Present-day remains
Thermes de Cluny - caldarium
Arènes de Lutèce (magnification)
Very little is now left of the ancient city although more is
currently being discovered.
In a small park on high ground in the
Latin
Quarter of the Left Bank, tucked
behind apartment blocks, one may still see some remains of the 1st
century amphitheatre (Arènes de
Lutèce). Furthermore, there are the remains of public
baths at the Musée de
Cluny (frigidarium with vault
intact and caldarium) and the Early
Christian archeological crypt under the Notre Dame forecourt, now Place of
Pope John-Paul II.
May 2006 Findings
In May
2006, a road dating back 2,000 years was discovered at the site of
Lutetia during construction on University
of Pierre and Marie Curie. The
National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research is
currently excavating the site.
During the excavation, remains of private houses containing
Roman baths and heated floors were
found. Over the next few weeks, however, archaeologists were to
pull up the ruins to make way for a research center. Everyday items
like flowerpots,
bronze chains,
ceramics, and drawer handles were dug out.
Many of these items were expected to be on exhibit in
museums shortly after.
Archaeologists acknowledge that this was the
first site discovered from the reign of
Roman emperor Augustus
(63 B.C.-14 A.D.).
The Builders
As far as details on the ancient builders, archeologists are in
disagreement over the character of the neighborhood's builders.
Some
believe that a former Gallic aristocracy, recruited by Rome to govern
the colony settled in the area. The
new Roman governors and
noblemen did build
the city in a Roman style, but certainly used materials found
locally. Most of this is assumed because they had to have been
wealthy enough to own a
Roman bath found
in one of the homes. A privately owned
Roman
bath was considered to be a
status
symbol among
Roman
citizens.
It is presumed that this particular
dwelling was built in the first decade of the 1st
century, at the end of emperor Augustus's reign, away from the
administrative and commercial center of the Roman city.
This
neighborhood stood on the Roman main street (called "cardo maximus") that was originally paved for
the Romans to cross the nearby Seine River and is today the Rue St. Jacques in Paris' fashionable 5th district.
Conservation of the Findings
Due to Parisian official conservation policy, when construction
work in Paris is planned, archaeologists review all building
permits and constructioners must ask for official's opinion to
determine whether the site is of historical value. If the site
proves significant in historical value, an excavation permit is
then issued. One of the problems concerning the potential
conservation of this site is the inherent destruction incurred by
the excavation process, due to the need for expansion of the
university facilities to help in the research of ancient and
historic Paris.
Popular Culture
Lutetia is featured in the
Asterix
adventures. It is shown to be full of
Gauls
with some Roman Legionaries who patrol the streets. The city first
features in
Asterix and
the Golden Sickle, which almost entirely takes place in and
around the city.
It is also shown in Asterix and the Laurel Wreath
where it is mentioned as the greatest city in the universe along
with Rome.
Asterix and Obelix also make a brief stop in
Asterix and the Banquet.
Justforkix and
Bravura are
also mentioned to be from Lutetia.
Related facts
There is also an
asteroid named
21 Lutetia; and the element
lutetium was named after the city, in honor of its
discovery in a Paris laboratory.
References
- Pierre-Yves Lambert, La langue gauloise, éditions
errance 1994.
- The City of Antiquity, official history of
Paris by The Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau
Further reading
External links