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Lutetia

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Image:Gaul, 1st century BC.gif thumb|A map of [[Gaul in the 1st century BC, showing the location of Lutetia and relative positions of the Celtic tribes.]] '''Lutetia''' (sometimes ''Lutetia Parisiorum'' or ''Lucotecia'', in French language French ''LutÃ¨ce'') was a town in pre-Roman and Roman era 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 ÃŽle de la CitÃ© created a convenient ford of the Seine.

Celtic origins
Somewhere in the immediate area was the chief settlement or oppidum of the Parisii, a Celtic people who settled in the area during the 3rd century BC. However, dendrochronology 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 BiÃ¨vre River BiÃ¨vre 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 Quartier Latin). There were outlying suburbs on an island across from the confluence, the ÃŽle de la CitÃ©, which was the Merovingian and modern centre of Paris. The name of ''Lutetia'' was first recorded by Julius Caesar in his ''De Bello Gallico Commentaries on the Gallic Wars'' (notably in book 7, chapters 57-58). The name seems to be related to an Indo-European languages Indo-European root meaning "mud", reflecting the marshy surroundings, which the Romans avoided.

Urbanization
Image:Plan de Paris Lutece2 BNF07710745.png thumb|250px|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 CE, 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 (Roman) 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 BiÃ¨vre valley at Arcueil-Cachan, a bridge was required, whose piers and ruined arches, still discernable, 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 ArÃ¨nes de LutÃ¨ce''. It was one of the largest such structures in Gaul.

Events
Image:ArÃ¨nes de lutÃ¨ce maquette.jpg thumb|250px|Model of the ''ArÃ¨nes de LutÃ¨ce'' The town was captured by the Roman Republic in 52 BC during the conquest of Gaul under 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 PanthÃ©on 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 Sens, Yonne). It was Christianization Christianised in the 3rd century, traditionally when Denis 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 212, taking its name from the Celtic "Parisii" tribe name. The name had already been used for centuries as an adjective ("Parisiacus"). Around the same time, the city quarter on the left Seine bank, which housed the thermae 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 Paris the article on Paris.

Present-day remains
Image:Thermes-de-Cluny-caldarium.jpg thumb|250px|Thermes de Cluny - caldarium Very little is now left of the ancient city. In a small park on high ground in the Quartier Latin Latin Quarter of the Left Bank, tucked behind apartment blocks, one may still see some remains of the 1st century amphitheatre (''ArÃ¨nes de LutÃ¨ce''). Furthermore, there are the remains of public baths at the MusÃ©e de Cluny (frigidarium with vault intact and caldarium), the Early Christian archeology archeological crypt under the Notre Dame de Paris Notre Dame forecourt and the catacombs under Montparnasse.

Further reading
* Philippe de CarbonniÃ¨res, ''LutÃ¨ce: Paris ville romaine'' (Gallimard 2001², ISBN 2-07-053389-1)

Related facts
There is also an asteroid named 21 Lutetia; and the element lutetium was named after the city, in honour of its discovery in a Paris laboratory.

External links
{{commons|Lutetia|Lutetia}}
- "Paris, a Roman city"
- ArÃ¨nes de LutÃ¨ce - Paris Parks & Gardens Category:Archaeological sites in France Category:Roman sites in France Category:Celts Category:History of Paris bg:Ð›ÑƒÑ‚ÐµÑ†Ð¸Ñ? fr:LutÃ¨ce nl:Lutetia sv:Lutetia

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