Lutetia

Lutetia Parisiorum was the capital of the Parisii, a tribe in ancient Gaul. The Parisii were a tribe on the Middle Seine, and Lutetia ("place near a swamp") was one of their main settlements. It was on the south bank of the river. In 53 BCE, the Roman general Julius Caesar used Lutetia, which had probably been founded in the mid-third century BCE, as place of the council of all Gallic tribes (Gallic War, 6.3). In the next year, the town supported the rebellion of Vercingetorix (Gallic War, 7.4), and Caesar sent his colonel Titus Labienus with four legions - including VII and XII - to keep control of Lutetia (Gallic War, 7.57). Caesar writes that the Gauls ordered the town to be set afire, but does not mention that this actually happened. Although Labienus defeated his opponents in battle, he was forced to return to the south, where Caesar was facing great troubles. The town's surrender - if anything was left after the fire - is not mentioned in our sources, but is likely to have taken place in 51 BC, after the fall of Alesia.