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TheParisii (Gaulish: *Parisioi;Greek:Παρίσιοι,romanized: Parísioi) were aGallic tribe that dwelt on the banks of the riverSeine during theIron Age and theRoman era. They lived on lands now occupied by the modern city ofParis, that name a derivation of theirethnonym.
They are mentioned asParisii byCaesar (mid-1st c. BC),[1]Parísioi (Παρίσιοι;var. Παρήσιοι) byStrabo (early 1st c. AD) andPtolemy (2nd c. AD),[2]Parisi byPliny (mid-1st c. AD),[3] and asParisius andParisios in theNotitia Dignitatum (5th c. AD).[4][5] Another tribe namedParisii is also documented (with only one attestation) in Britain.[6]
The ethnic nameParisii is a latinized form ofGaulishParisioi (sing.Parisios). Its meaning has been debated. According to French government diplomatXavier Delamarre, it may derive from the stempario- ('cauldron').[6]Alfred Holder interpreted the name as 'the makers' or 'the commanders', by comparing it to theWelshperyff ('lord, commander'), both possibly descending from aProto-Celtic form reconstructed as *kwar-is-io-.[7] Alternatively,Pierre-Yves Lambert proposed to translateParisii as the 'spear people', by connecting the first element to theOld Irishcarr 'spear', derived from an earlier *kwar-sā.[5]
The city ofParis, attested asLutetiam Oppidum Parisiorum byCaesar (Parision in the 5th c. AD,Paris in 1265), is named after the Gallic tribe.[8][5]
The Parisii settled in the territory surrounding their chief town (oroppidum) about 250 BC, as first mentioned inJulius Caesar'sCommentarii de Bello Gallico.[9]
According to theCommentarii de Bello Gallico, when the Romans under Caesar entered this territory, the Parisii started burning down their own towns for they were willing to give up these possessions rather than have them taken by the Romans.[10]
In 52 BC, in concert with theSuessiones, the Parisii participated in the general rising ofVercingetorix againstJulius Caesar. Before the Roman period, the Parisii had their own gold coinage.[10]
Once part of theRoman Empire the Parisiioppidum later became the site ofLutetia, an important city in the Roman province ofGallia Lugdunensis, and ultimately the modern city ofParis, whose name is derived from the name of the tribe. An ancient trade route betweenGermania andHispania existed at the area, by way of the meeting of theOise andMarne rivers with theSeine.[11][12]
Media related toParisii at Wikimedia Commons
