The history of Toulouse, in Occitania, southern France, traces back to ancient times. After Roman rule, the city was ruled by the Visigoths and Merovingian and Carolingian Franks. Capital of the County of Toulouse during the Middle Ages, today it is the capital of the Midi-Pyrénées region.
Before 118 BC: pre-Roman times Archaeological evidence dates human settlement in Toulouse to the 8th century BC. Its location was advantageous; the Garonne River bends westward toward the Atlantic Ocean, and can be crossed easily. People settled on the hills overlooking the river, in the modern locality of Vieille-Toulouse (literally "Old-Toulouse"), south of present downtown Toulouse. Just north of the hills is a large plain suitable for agriculture, and the site was a center for trade between the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. The historical name of the city, Tolosa (Τολῶσσα in Greek, and of its inhabitants, the Tolosates, first recorded in the 2nd century BC), researchers agree that it was probably Aquitanian (an ancestor of the Basque language), its meaning is unknown. Toulouse's name has remained almost unchanged through the centuries (rare for a French city), despite Celtic, Roman and Germanic invasions.
The first inhabitants were apparently the Aquitani, of whom little is known. Later came Iberians from the south, who (like the Aquitani) were non-Indo-Europeans. During the third century BC the Volcae Tectosages (a Gallic tribe from Belgium or southern Germany) arrived, the first Indo-Europeans in the region. They settled in Tolosa, intermarrying with the local people, and their Gaulish language became predominant. By 200 BC, Tolosa is attested on coins as the capital of the Volcae Tectosages (which Julius Caesar called Tolosates—singular Tolosas—in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico). According to archaeologists, Tolosa was one of the wealthiest and most important cities in Gaul during the pre-Roman era. Gold and silver mines were nearby, and offerings to its shrines and temples accumulated wealth in the city.
118 BC–AD 418: Roman period
The Romans began their conquest of southern Gaul (later known as the Provincia) in 125 BC. In 118 BC they founded the colony of Narbo Martius (Narbonne, the Mediterranean city nearest to inland Toulouse) and made contact with the Tolosates, noted for their wealth and the position of their capital for trade with the Atlantic. Tolosa allied with the Romans, who established a fort on the plain north of the city (a key position near the border of independent Aquitania) but otherwise left Tolosa semi-independent.
In 109 BC the Germanic Cimbri tribe descended the Rhône Valley, invaded the Provincia and defeated the Romans, whose power was shaken along the recently conquered Mediterranean coast. The Tolosates rebelled against Rome, killing the Roman garrison, before Rome recovered and defeated the invaders. In 106 BC, Quintus Servilius Caepio was sent to reconquer and punish Tolosa. With the aid of Tolosates who remained loyal to Rome, he captured the city and the wealth of its temples and shrines.
Tolosa was then incorporated into the Roman Provincia (Provincia Romana, the common name for the province of Transalpine Gaul with its capital at Narbo Martius). Although Tolosa was an important military garrison at the western border of the Roman empire, the city remained a backwater in the Provincia and people still lived in the old Celtic city in the hills. No Roman colony was established, and few soldiers settled in the area.
After the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar, Tolosa did not participate in the uprisings against Rome during the Gallic wars and southern France would be the most Romanized part of France after the decline of the Roman Empire. Caesar established his camp on the Tolosa plain in 52 BC, conquering western Aquitania. With the conquest of Aquitania and Gaul, Tolosa was no longer a military outpost. Capitalizing on its position for trade between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic (both now under Roman control), the city grew rapidly.
The most important event in the city's history was the decision to relocate north of the hills. A typical Roman city, with straight streets, was founded on the plain on the beginning bank of the river between the end of Augustus' reign and the beginning of Tiberius' (about 10–30 AD). The population was forced to relocate to the new city (also named Tolosa), and the old settlement was abandoned. Walls were built around the new city, probably at the initiative of Emperor Augustus (who wanted to create a major city at the junction of the newly built Via Aquitania and the Garonne); such walls, unnecessary during the Pax Romana, were built as an imperial favor to indicate a city's status. Until the fall of Rome, the new Tolosa was a civitas of the province of Gallia Narbonensis (with its capital Narbo Martius—Narbonne—the new name of the old provincia).
With imperial favor and thriving trade, Tolosa became a major city in the Roman Empire. During the civil war following Nero's death, Tolosa native M. Antonius Primus led the armies of Vespasian into Italy, entered Rome in 69 AD and established the Flavian dynasty. Emperor Domitian, son of Vespasian and Primus' friend, granted Tolosa the honorific status of Roman colony. Another sign of imperial favor was Domitian's bestowal of the title of Palladia on the city in reference to Pallas Athena, goddess of arts and knowledge.
Palladia Tolosa was a major Roman city, with aqueducts, circus and theaters, thermae, a forum and an extensive sewage system. Protected by its walls and its distance from the Rhine, it escaped unscathed from the third-century invasions. With much of Gaul destroyed, Toulouse was the fourth-largest city in the western half of the Roman Empire after Rome, Treves and Arles. Around that time, Christianity entered the city; the Christian community expanded under Saint Saturnin (locally known as Saint Sernin), the first bishop of Toulouse, who was martyred in Toulouse about 250. In 313 the Edict of Milan established religious freedom in the empire, ending persecution of the Christians, and in 403 the Saint-Sernin basilica opened as a shrine for relics of Saint Saturnin.
On 31 December 406 the Rhine frontier was breached by tribes seeking to escape starvation during a harsh winter. In 407, Toulouse was besieged by the Vandals. Under its bishop, Saint Exuperius, the city resisted; the Vandals lifted the siege, moving into Spain and settling in North Africa. "The provinces of Aquitaine and of the Novempopulana (Gascony), of Lyon and of Narbonne are, with the exception of a few cities, one universal scene of desolation. And those which the sword spares without, famine ravages within. I cannot speak without tears of Toulouse which has been kept from failing hitherto by the merits of its reverend bishop Exuperius", wrote Jerome to a Roman widow in 409 (Letters cxxiii.16). In 413 (three years after they sacked Rome), the Visigoths under King Ataulf captured Toulouse; under pressure from Roman forces, they soon withdrew south of the Pyrenees. After the murder of Ataulf, his successor Wallia resolved to make peace with Rome. In exchange for peace, in 418 Emperor Honorius gave the Visigoths Aquitania and Toulouse (in Gallia Narbonensis, at the border of Aquitania). The Visigoths chose Palladia Tolosa as their capital, ending Roman rule of the city.
418–508: Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse
The Visigothic kings of Toulouse, one of the foederati (allies) of the Roman Empire in the West and limited to Aquitania and Toulouse, soon began encroaching on neighboring territories. As Roman allies the Visigoths helped defeat Germanic invaders in Spain (notably the Suebi), taking advantage of their position to expand their territory south of the Pyrenees. They tried to conquer the Mediterranean coast of the province of Gallia Narbonensis, but were opposed by Rome. In 439 the Roman general Litorius defeated the Visigoths at Narbonne, driving them back to Toulouse. Although he besieged the city, he was defeated and taken prisoner. Avitus, the praetorian prefect of Gaul with influence on King Theodoric I of the Visigoths, was then sent to Toulouse and concluded a peace. In 451, threatened by an invasion of the Huns in Gaul, he negotiated a treaty between Rome and the Visigoths and they defeated the Huns. In 455 Avitus, magister militum (senior military officer of the Empire) on a diplomatic mission to King Theodoric II of the Visigoths, was proclaimed the new Roman emperor in Toulouse by his Visigothic friends amid news that the Vandals had sacked Rome and Emperor Petronius Maximus had been murdered. Avitus' reign in Rome was brief, and he was defeated by his enemies in 456. This antagonized the Visigoths, who warred with the new Roman leaders, and a weaker Rome gave way. The Narbonne region was conquered by the Visigoths in 462.
King Euric (466–484), an enemy of Rome, extended the Visigothic territory in Gaul and Spain. In 475 he dissolved the treaty with Rome, proclaiming independence a year before the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Toulouse was now the capital of an expanding Gothic kingdom; by the end of the fifth century, the kingdom of Toulouse extended from the Loire Valley in the north to the Strait of Gibraltar in the south and from the Rhône in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west (the largest territory controlled from Toulouse).
Unlike most cities in western Europe, Toulouse remained prosperous during the Migration Period. Although the Visigoths professed Arianism (a non-Trinitarian form of Christianity) and lived apart from their Gallo-Roman subjects, they were generally well accepted for bringing protection and prosperity. Behind its first-century walls, the city encompassed the same area; most western European cities were hastily enclosing small portions of their imperial area. The treasure which the Visigoths seized in Rome in 410 (including that from the Temple in Jerusalem) was reportedly stored in Toulouse at the time. The Visigoths blended Roman and Gothic cultures, preserving Roman law in the 506 Breviary of Alaric (applying to the Visigoths and the local Roman population). The Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse was reportedly more Romanized and its state structure more elaborate than the Frankish kingdom north of the Loire Valley.
Under Clovis the Franks converted to Catholicism, receiving support from bishops opposing the Visigoths' Arianism and marching south to the northern borders of the Visigothic kingdom. War followed, and the Visigothic king Alaric II was defeated by Clovis at the Battle of Vouillé in 507. The Franks moved south, conquered Aquitania and captured Toulouse in 508. The Visigoths withdrew to Iberia, moving their capital to Toledo. Toulouse became part of Aquitaine, a smaller city in the Frankish kingdom.
508–768: Merovingian Franks and the duchy of Aquitaine After the Frankish conquest, Toulouse began a period of decline and anarchy. Poor weather, plagues, demographic collapse and the decline of education and culture were common in the Frankish lands during the sixth and seventh centuries. Following Clovis' death in 511, Aquitaine and the rest of the kingdom were divided between his sons (the Merovingian dynasty). The Merovingian kings fought each other for control of the Frankish realm. Aquitaine was loosely controlled by Frankish kings, who delegated dukes to control the region in their name. In 680, the Duchy of Vasconia (founded 602) and Aquitaine merged under the first independent duke of Aquitaine: Felix, a Roman patrician from Toulouse. The Merovingian monarchy was weakened, and an independent local dynasty of dukes emerged in Aquitaine. Unrecognized by the Merovingians, they ruled as kings in Aquitaine (including the Basque-speaking area of Gascony south of the Garonne) with their capital Toulouse.