Toulouse (Lat. Tolosa, Tholosa) is situated on the eastern bank of the Garonne River. Evidence of human occupation in the region, dating from the 2nd century BCE at the earliest, has been found close to the ancient city. Toulouse was brought under Roman domination in the late 2nd century BCE and, from the 3rd century CE on, was a civitas capital in the west of the province of Narbonensis prima and an important point on the route between the provincial capital Bordeaux and the Mediterranean.

Called oppidum latinum by Pliny the El…