Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/237

 LUTETIA. fined to the island which afterwards was called La Cite (civitas), a name given to the old Roman part of several French towns. But the island on which stands the church of Notre Dame was then and for a lono; time after of less extent than it is now ; for the site of the Place Dauphine was once two small islands which were not joined together and united to the Cite before the sixteenth century; and the spot called Le Terrein was anotlier addition produced by the ruins of the buildings which were erected in this part of the city. Paris was never a large place under the Roman dominion. Ammianus (xv. 11) calls it a Castellum, and Julian {Miso- pogon, p, 340) and Zosimus name it a small city (TroAi'x*'')). Zosimus, who was no great geographer, phices it in Germania. Lutetia may probably have occupied some ground on the north or on the south side of the river, or even on both sides, for the island was joined to the mainland by bridges in Caesar's time (5. G. vii. 58), made of wood, as we may as- sume. Julian spent a %vinter in Paris, a. d. S.'jS, and was proclaimed Augustus there. (Ammian. Marcell. xvii. 2, 8, xx. 4.) The Franks under Clovis took Paris about the close of the fifth century, A. D. ; and about A. D. .508 Clovis made Paris Lis residence. LUTEVA. 221 - — ■■ ^ ^£ ^ ^1 B ^^^ ^ s^ V 1 I ! / A I i / J / ^ ^3 I 1 l_ .,,

.» -is ~J^ t ^ A. A. The river Sequana [Seine). B. B. The river Matrona (Marne). . Lutetia (Paris), on an island. 2. Melodunum (Melun). on an island or point. The scale is in English miles. ^Vnen Caesar (b. c. 52) was setting out to attack Gergovia, he sent Labienus with four legions against the Senones and Parish. (5. G. vii. 34.) Labienus advanced upon Lutetia from Agedincum, where he left his stores. His march was along the left bank of the Seine. The commander of the Gallic forces occupied a marshy tract, the water of which ran into the Seine, and here he waited, with the inten- tion of preventing the Romans from crossing the river {B. G. vii. 57) to Lutetia. Labienus attempted to make a road across the marsh, but, finding it impossible, he left his camp silently in the night, and, returning by the route by which he had ad- vanced, he reached Melodunum {Melun), a town of the Senones on an island in the Seine. He there seized about fifty vessels, and easily got possession of Melun. After repairing the bridge from the island to the right bank of the river, he carried over his men to the right side, and marched again upon Lutetia. He took the vessels with him, and used them, as we must suppose, for crossing the Matrona (^Marne), though the Marne is not mentioned in the narrative. Before Labienus could reach Pans, the Galli set Lutetia on fire, and broke down the bridges which united the island to the main. They also quitted the marsh, and placed themselves on the banks of the Seine opposite to Lutetia and to the camp of Labienus, which was on the right side of the river. In the meantime Caesars defeat before Gergovia was known, and Labienus was threatened from the north by the Bellovaci in his rear. In front of him, on the opposite side of the river, were the Parisii and their allies. His safety depended on getting to the left bank of the Seine, and he ac- complished it by a clever movement. Soon after nightfall he left half a legion in his camp ; he ordered another half legion, with their baggage, to march up the river, making a loud noise ; and he sent up the river, in the same direction as the half legion as many boats as he could collect, which made a great splashing with their oars. He sent the ships that he brought from Melodunum four miles down the river, and, soon after despatching the half legion up the river, he marched with his three legions down the stream in great silence, and found his ships. The scouts of the enemy, who were placed all along the stream, were surprised and slaughtered ; for there was a great storm raging, and they were off their guard. The three legions were can'ied across the river in the vessels. The enemy were confounded by the unusual noise purposely made in the Roman camp, by the boats moving up the river, and by the news of the enemy crossing lower down. Accordingly, the Galli left part of their forces to watch the opposite camp, and sent another part up the river towards Metiosedum, as it is in Caesar's text, which is either a mistake for Melodunum, or it is some place higher up the Seine than Paris. Either supposition will explain Caesar. The Galli led the rest of their forces to oppose the three legion which had crossed the Seine with Labienus, and, after a hard fight, they were defeated and dispersed. Labienus led his troops back to Agedincum, where his stores and baggage were. This is the substance of Caesar's narrative, which is correctly explained by D'Anville {Notice, ^c, art. Jlelodunum), and LTsert {Gallien, p. 476) has done well in following hira. Some of the old critics com- pletely misunderstood Labienus' movements ; and even, of late years, the passage has been wrongly explained. The Romans built both on the island La Cite and on both sides of the Seine, but the Roman memorials of Paris are very few. Some sculptured stones were dug up under the choir of Xotre Dame. The in- scriptions were of the time of Tiberius Caesar, and show that the Roman and Galhc deities were wor- shipped jointly. The remains of a subterranean aqueduct have been discovered both on the north and south sides of the river. The materials of the Roman city were doubtless employed for more recent con- structions, and thus Roman Lutetia has disap- peared. [G. L.] LUTE'VA (Etk. Lutevani : Lodeve), in Gallia Narbonensis, is placed by the Table, where the name is written Loteva, on a road from Agatha {Affde) to Segodunum {Rhodce). Pliny (iii. 5) says, " Lute- vani qui et Foroneronienses," whence it has been