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Lutetia
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Lutetia (sometimes Lutetia Parisiorum or Lucotecia, 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.
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Lutetia (sometimes Lutetia Parisiorum or Lucotecia, 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 name comes from the Latin, meaning Midwater-dwelling.
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 BC. However, dendrochronological study of wooden pilings beneath the lowest stratum of the Roman north-south axis date the road's construction after A.D. 4, 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.
The name of Lutetia was first recorded by Julius Caesar in his Commentaries on the Gallic Wars (notably in book 7, chapters 57-58). The name seems to be related to an Indo-European root meaning "mud", reflecting the marshy surroundings, which the Romans avoided.
Urbanization
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
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
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.
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.
Further reading
- Philippe de Carbonnières, Lutèce: Paris ville romaine (Gallimard 20012, ISBN 2-07-053389-1)
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