PARIS IN ANTIQUITY (1000 BC - 500 AD) The Gauls were the first Parisians: Paris was increasingly inhabited by Celts, but the first important village worthy of this name dates from the 3rd century BC. The Parisii, a gaulish people, were installed in Paris around 250 BC. They built a bridge across the Seine, which facilitated the taxation of all who passed over and under it. Paris, which was then called “Lutetia” became a place for the exchange of goods from the North, the South-West of France and the Mediterranean. Lutetia became “the town of the Parisii”, then finally, Paris in the 5th century AD.