100 CE
Roman Lutetia
- Known as
- Lutetia
- Who held power
- Roman imperial government
- Places to connect
- Arènes de Lutèce · Roman baths
History of a place Paris, France
Paris,
through time.
One city. Many lifetimes.
Discover the layers of history
beneath the streets of Paris.
Choose a moment in time
01 100 CE
Lutetia in the Roman world
- The city’s name
- Lutetia
- Who held power
- Roman imperial government
The settlement belonged to Roman Gaul. Its later name, Paris, preserves a connection with the Parisii. The surviving Roman traces are fragments of a much larger urban landscape.
People & connections
Compare the city’s Roman setting with the wider imperial world.
The 100 CE map year is available free. The map and timeline open in new tabs; return here to continue the guide.
Sources & historical context 1 source
About the map year 100 CE → 100 CE
Selected year: 100 CE · Border snapshot: 100 CE. The atlas chooses the nearest reconstruction. Its 2026 endpoint uses 2010 boundary geometry. Read the map methodology (opens in a new tab).
02 1200 CE
A royal capital around 1200
- The city’s name
- Paris
- Who held power
- Philip II, king of France
Royal government and the city’s growing institutions reshaped medieval Paris. Think about the relationship between a capital and the territory governed from it.
People & connections
Philip II (Philip Augustus): royal authority and the expanding city.
The 1200 CE map year requires Plus or Pro on the atlas. The map and timeline open in new tabs; return here to continue the guide.
Sources & historical context 1 source
About the map year 1200 CE → 1200 CE
Selected year: 1200 CE · Border snapshot: 1200 CE. The atlas chooses the nearest reconstruction. Its 2026 endpoint uses 2010 boundary geometry. Read the map methodology (opens in a new tab).
03 1789 CE
Paris and the Revolution, 1789
- The city’s name
- Paris
- Who held power
- Louis XVI; royal authority challenged by new representative institutions
Events in Paris and nearby Versailles became connected through a crisis of political authority. Keep the two places distinct when tracing the Revolution.
People & connections
Jean-Sylvain Bailly links the Tennis Court Oath to the new municipal government in Paris.
The 1789 CE map year requires Plus or Pro on the atlas. The map and timeline open in new tabs; return here to continue the guide.
Sources & historical context 3 sources
About the map year 1789 CE → 1783 CE
Selected year: 1789 CE · Border snapshot: 1783 CE (6 years earlier). The atlas chooses the nearest reconstruction. Its 2026 endpoint uses 2010 boundary geometry. Read the map methodology (opens in a new tab).
A city of many layers
One place. Three different worlds.
Explore how Paris changed
across three key moments.
1200 CE
The royal capital
- Known as
- Paris
- Who held power
- Philip II, king of France
- Places to connect
- Île de la Cité · Philip II’s wall
1789 CE
The Revolution
- Known as
- Paris
- Who held power
- Louis XVI; royal authority challenged by new representative institutions
- Places to connect
- Place de la Bastille · Versailles
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