|
In the middle of the
3rd century BC, a Celtic tribe, known
as the
Parisii, established themselves on the Île-de-la-Cité
in the Seine River. They fortified the island and named their settlement
‘Lutetia’, meaning “midwater-dwelling”. Long before the Roman invasion, the
Parisii were wealthy enough to have their own gold coins. When the Roman
legions came, in 52 BC, the Parisii burned and abandoned the town.
The Roman conquerors
extended the town to the adjacent southern, or
Left Bank, of the Seine and
built a forum, baths and laid out relatively straight streets. They also
renamed the town as Civitas Parisiorum and made it their regional capital.
The Seine divided the
town by entering from the southeast and snaking away to the north. Over the
successive years the city’s boundaries expanded outward in the manner of a
circle. With each expansion, the old ramparts were replaced by wide streets
and boulevards and a newer system of defensive walls were erected around its
perimeter.
The later part of the
2nd century marked the commencement of a number of so-called barbarian
invasions by Germanic tribes. By the middle part of the 3rd century, the
Left Bank town [the river’s south shore] had been destroyed by the
barbarians, forcing its inhabitants to move to the Cité and to fortify the
island.
During the middle of
the 3rd century, Saint-Denis is said to have introduced Christianity. He
became the town’s first bishop. It wasn’t until the early part of the 4th
century that the place became known as Paris. Sometime between 360 and 436
AD, a wooden church was built on the Cité under Saint Marcel, the 9th bishop
of Paris. In 451, Sainte-Geneviève, Paris’ patron saint, is said to have
inspired the city’s defenders to beat back the invasion of the Huns from the
city’s walls.
Medieval Paris ►
|
