http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutetia wrote:
<<Lutetia (also Lutetia Parisiorum in Latin, 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.
There is an asteroid named 21 Lutetia; and the element lutetium was named after the city, in honor of its discovery in a Paris laboratory. Lutetium (
71Lu) is the last element in the lanthanide series, which explains several important properties of lutetium, such as it having the highest hardness or density among lanthanides. Since Lutetia was a Roman city, 21 Lutetia's craters are named after cities of the Roman Empire and the adjacent parts of Europe during the time of Lutetia's existence. Its regions are named after the discoverer of Lutetia (Goldschmitt) and after provinces of the Roman Empire at the time of Lutetia. Other features are named after rivers of the Roman Empire and the adjacent parts of Europe at the time of Lutetia.
The primitive Λουκοτοκία (Strabon), Λευκοτεκία (Ptolemeus), Lutetia (Caesar) maybe contain the Celtic root *luco-t- 'mouse' + -ek(t)ia =
'the mice', Breton logod, Welsh llygod, Irish luch (cf. Bibracte, *bibro 'beaver' + -acti = 'the beavers') or another Celtic root luto-, luteuo- 'marsh', 'swamp' (Gaelic loth 'marsh', Breton loudour 'dirty') like in Lutudarum (Derbyshire, England); Lodève (Luteua); Ludesse
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 4 AD, 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 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.
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.
In May 2006, a road dating back 2,000 years was discovered at the site of Lutetia during expansion of the campus 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 BC-14 AD).
Lutetia is featured in the Asterix adventures. It is among the largest and most developed in Gaul, shown to be full of Gauls with some Roman Legionaries who patrol the streets. As with nearly the entire country of Gaul in the series, Lutetia is under the Pax Romana and is even governed by an envoy of Caesar. Frequently it served the farcical role of reflecting the modern city of Paris in a historical setting eccentric to Parisian conventions. 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. In every appearance, Lutetia is shown to be in constant gridlock, with every cart unable to move and the cartdrivers insulting each other for getting in the way. Justforkix and Bravura are also mentioned to be from Lutetia.>>
Rosetta Approaches Asteroid Lutetia
