They lived on lands now occupied by the modern city of Paris, whose name is derived from the ethnonym.[7] Alternatively, Pierre-Yves Lambert proposed to translate Parisii as the 'spear people', by connecting the first element to the Old Irish carr 'spear', derived from an earlier *kwar-sā.[8][5] The Parisii settled in the territory surrounding their chief town (or oppidum) about 250 BC, as first mentioned in Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico.[10] In 52 BC, in concert with the Suessiones, the Parisii participated in the general rising of Vercingetorix against Julius Caesar.An ancient trade route between Germania and Hispania existed at the area, by way of the meeting of the Oise and Marne rivers with the Seine.
A map of
Gaul
in the 1st century BC, showing the relative positions of the Celtic tribes.