Aurelian, returning westward from his sack of…

The Romanization and Christianization of Lutetia (3rd Century CE)

By the 3rd century CE, Lutetia (modern Paris) had been thoroughly Romanized, with an estimated population of around 8,000 people. However, it was not a major political center at the time, as the capital of its province, Lugdunensis Senona, was Agedincum (modern Sens, Yonne).

While Lutetia remained secondary in administrative importance, its location on the River Seine made it a prosperous urban center, featuring:

• Public baths, an amphitheater, and a forum.
• A network of Roman roads connecting it to other Gallic cities.
• A thriving trade economy, particularly on the Left Bank, which was the heart of Roman Lutetia.

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The Christianization of Lutetia and the Mission of St. Denis

• Christianity arrived in Lutetia in the 3rd century, traditionally linked to the mission of St. Denis, regarded as the first bishop of the city.
• Christianity had previously struggled to gain a foothold, especially after the persecutions under Emperor Decius (r. 249–251 CE), which nearly wiped out the local Christian community.

St. Denis and His Mission in Gaul

• Denis was sent from Italy to convert Gaul, reportedly under Pope Fabian, linking him to the "apostles to the Gauls", a group of early Christian missionaries.
• Along with his companions, Rusticus and Eleutherius, Denis settled on the Île de la Cité, preaching to the local population.
• His efforts alarmed the pagan priesthood, leading to his eventual execution by beheading on the highest hill in Paris—now Montmartre.

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The Martyrdom and Legends of St. Denis

• Montmartre’s name is popularly believed to come from mons martyrium ("The Martyrs' Mountain"), though it likely derives from mons Mercurei et mons Martis, referring to previous pagan worship of Mercury and Mars.
• According to legend, after being beheaded, Denis picked up his own head, walked six miles while preaching, and only then collapsed and died—a common motif among Christian cephalophores (head-carriers).
• The place where he finally fell became a shrine, which later evolved into the Basilica of Saint-Denis, destined to become the royal necropolis of the Kings of France.
• Another variant of the legend claims that his corpse was thrown into the Seine, but was later retrieved and buried in secret by his followers.

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Legacy of St. Denis and the Christianization of Paris

• His martyrdom made him the patron saint of Paris, and his burial site at Saint-Denis became one of the most important pilgrimage sites in medieval France.
• The growth of Christianity in Lutetia continued throughout the late Roman and early medieval periods, with Paris eventually becoming a major Christian center.
• The legend of St. Denis as a cephalophore remains one of the most famous stories in Christian hagiography, reinforcing his spiritual significance in French history.

The Romanization of Lutetia and its early Christian traditions helped shape its transformation from a minor Gallic-Roman city into one of the most important religious and cultural centers of medieval and modern France.

Tetricus has installed his capital at Augusta Treverorum, near the vital Rhine border.

He is again on the Rhine fighting off Germanic invaders in 272, winning victories that secure his reputation as an able military commander.

Having dealt with the Alamanni, Aurelian quickly sets about restoring Roman authority in Europe.

In Pannonia (in present-day central Europe), he moves decisively and defeats the Vandals who, joined by Sarmatians, had crossed the middle course of Danube.

He allows the Vandals to withdraw back across the Danube into Dacia only after asking his troops if they wish to let them so do, and has them leave hostages and supply two thousand horsemen to the Roman cavalry.

(When five hundred of these cavalry break the agreement, they are destroyed.)

Aurelian probably had recognized Zenobia and Vaballathus, who has been campaigning with his forces in the Gallic Empire, but the relationship begins to degenerate when Aurelian begins a military campaign to reunite the Roman Empire.

Seeking to recover the eastern provinces that for ten years have obeyed the rule of the princes of Palmyra, he leads an army to Asia and at Immae, near Antioch, successfully combats Palmyra's famed mounted and armored lancers and archers, commanded by Zenobia’s best general, Zabda.

After a crushing defeat, the remaining Palmyrenes, pursued by the Romans, withdraw in good order to Antioch.

The city of Tyana, after having sided with Palmyra, is captured by Aurelian who, allegedly influenced by a dream of Apollonius of Tyana, pleading for its safety, forbids his soldiers from sacking the city; Greeks here join the Roman side.

The Palmyrenes withdraw into Emesa, but Zenobia is unable to remove her treasury here as Aurelian successfully enters and besieges the city.

She and her son, escaping on camel back with help from the Sassanids, are overtaken on the Euphrates River by Aurelian’s cavalry.

Aurelian besieges Palmyra after his victory at Emesa.

The Palmyrenes soon surrender, and suffer the installation of a Roman garrison of six hundred archers.

Zenobia surrenders; obtaining the emperor’s forgiveness, she remains in control with her son Vaballathus, but, following Aurelian’s departure, reiterates her claim of independence.

An expedition simultaneous with Aurelian's expedition against the Palmyrenes had reached Egypt in May 272, and by early June, Alexandria is recaptured by the Romans, followed by the rest of Egypt by the third week of June.

Zenobia seems to have withdrawn the bulk of the Palmyrene army from Egypt to focus on Syria, which, if lost, would have meant the end of Palmyra.

Pope Dionysius’s successor Felix, the author of an important dogmatic letter on the unity of Christ's Person, had received Aurelian's aid in settling the theological dispute between the anti-Trinitarian Paul of Samosata and the orthodox Domnus, Paul's successor, who the Italian bishops have endorsed.

Paul's patron, Zenobia, having meanwhile added Anatolia to Palmyra's sphere of influence, had even won partial recognition from Aurelian.

Paul loses her protection late in 272, however, when the emperor defeats her.

The Christians of Antioch bring their case before the Emperor, who orders Paul to yield the house to Domnus.

The Palmyrenes revolt again in 273, slaughtering the Roman garrison, and Aurelian returns to Syria, recapturing and demolishing Palmyra, ending Zenobia’s short-lived empire.

Zenobia’s chief counselor, the Greek sophist and rhetorician Cassius Dionysius Longinus, is put to death.

Aurelian takes the queen and her son to Rome as hostages; Vaballathus will die on the journey.