Massalia

Massalia(Greek:Μασσαλία,romanized:Massalía;Latin:Massilia) was an ancientGreek colony(apoikia) on theMediterraneancoast, east of theRhône.Settled by theIoniansfromPhocaeain 600 BC, thisapoikiagrew up rapidly, and its population set up many outposts for trading in modern-day Spain, Corsica and Liguria. Massalia persisted as an independent colony until the Roman campaign in Gaul in the 1st Century BC. The ruins of Massalia still exist in the contemporary city ofMarseille,which is considered the oldest city ofFranceand one of Europe's oldest continuously inhabited settlements.^[1]

History[edit]

Massalia was established ca. 600 BC byIonian Greeksettlers fromPhocaea,in WesternAnatolia.After the capture of Phocaea by the Persians in 545 BC, a new wave of settlers fled towards the colony.^[2]^[3]^[4]A creation myth telling the meeting between the Greeks and the local population is given byAristotleandPompeius Trogus(seefounding myth of Marseille).^[5]

After the middle of the 6th century BC, Massalia became an important trading post of the western Mediterranean area. It grew into creating colonies of its own on the sea coast ofGallia Narbonensisduring the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, includingAgathe(late 5th–early 4th c. BC),Olbia[fr](ca. 325),Tauroentium(early 3rd c.),AntipolisandNikaia(ca. mid-3rd c.).^[6]^[4]Massalia was known in ancient times for its explorers:Euthymenestravelled to the west African coast in the late 6th century BC, andPytheasexplored northwestern Europe in the late 4th century BC.^[3]

The colony remained a faithful ally of Rome during all of thePunic Wars(264–146 BC). The retreat ofCarthagefrom theIberiancoast after its defeat in theSecond Punic War(218–201) gave Massalia the dominancy over theGulf of Lion,and the fall of Carthage in 146 probably led to the intensification of trade between the Greek colony and theCeltiberians.^[7]Archaeological evidence, in the form of amphora fragments, indicate that the Greeks were producing wine in the region (Provence) soon after they settled. By the time the Romans reached the area in 125 BC, the wine produced there had a reputation across the Mediterranean for high quality.^{[citation needed]}

Massalia initially chose neutrality during theCivil WarbetweenCaesarand the Senate, but sided with Caesar's opponents after the arrival ofLucius Domitius Ahenobarbus.The city wasbesieged in 49 BCand eventually had to surrender to Caesar's army. Massalia lost most of its inland territory in the aftermath of this defeat.^[4]

During theRomanandLate Antiqueperiods, the city, then known asMassiliain Latin, remained a major center of maritime trade. It became acivitaswithin the Roman Empire at the latest ca. 300 AD.^[4]

Political system[edit]

Massalia was ruled as anoligarchicrepublic by a closed aristocracy initially descending from the original settlers. An assembly of 600timouchoi,whose membership was conditioned to the involvement in trading activities, elected 15 magistrates, 3 of them with executive power.^[8]^[4]

Reputation[edit]

The Greeks used the proverbsἘκ Μασσαλίας ἥκεις( "you are coming out of Massalia" ) andἘς Μασσαλίαν πλεύσειας( "you might sail to Massalia" ) in reference to those living aneffeminateand soft life, apparently because the men of Massalia were wearing fancy long perfumed robes and tying their hair up, which other Greeks interpreted as signs of disgrace.^[9]^[10]^[11]

The Romans on the other hand had a more positive view of the city as a bastion of Greek civilisation in barbarian lands,^[12]^[13]and as a loyal ally of Rome.^[14]^[15]

Legacy[edit]

A genetic study conducted in 2011 found that 4% of the inhabitants ofProvencebelong to thehaplogroup E-V13lineage, which is especially frequent among Phocaeans (19%), and that 17% of theY-chromosomesin Provence may be attributed to Greek colonization. According to the authors, these results suggest "a Greek male elite-dominant input into the Iron Age Provence population".^[16]

References[edit]

^Duchêne 1998.
^Lafond 2006.
^^a ^bRivet & Drinkwater 2016.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^eGuyon 2012.
^Bouffier & Garcia 2021,pp. 25–28.
^Bouffier 2009,p. 38.
^Bouffier 2009,pp. 38–39.
^Bouffier 2009,pp. 36–37.
^Suda,epsilon, 499 (in Greekandin English)
^Suda,epsilon, 3161 (in Greekandin English)
^Athenaeus,Deipnosophistae12.25
^Livy,Ab Urbe Condita37.54
^Cicero,Pro Flacco63
^Justin,Epitome43.5.3
^Jensson, Gottskálk (2017)."Sailing from Massalia, or Mapping Out the Significance of Encolpius' Travels in the Satyrica".Cultural Crossroads in the Ancient Novel:7–15.doi:10.1515/9781501503986-002.ISBN 9781501503986.
^King et al. 2011.

Bibliography

Bouffier, Sophie (2009). "Marseille et la Gaule Méditerranéenne avant la Conquête Romaine". In Cabouret, Bernadette (ed.).Rome et l'occident: du IIe s. av. J.-C au IIe s. apr. J.-C.Presses Universitaire du Mirail. pp. 35–60.ISBN 978-2-8107-0052-3.JSTOR 43606588.{{cite book}}:|journal=ignored (help)
Bouffier, Sophie; Garcia, Dominique (2021). "Variations territoriales: indigènes et Grecs en Celtique méditerranéenne".Les territoires de Marseille antique.Errance.ISBN 978-2-87772-848-5.
Duchêne, Roger (1998).Marseille: 2600 ans d'histoire.Fayard.ISBN 978-2-7028-2422-1.
Guyon, Jean (2012). "Massilia (Marseilles)".The Encyclopedia of Ancient History.Wiley-Blackwell.doi:10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah16085.ISBN 978-1-4443-3838-6.
King, Roy J.; Di Cristofaro, Julie; Kouvatsi, Anastasia; Triantaphyllidis, Costas; Scheidel, Walter; Myres, Natalie M.; Lin, Alice A.; Eissautier, Alexandre; Mitchell, Michael; Binder, Didier; Semino, Ornella (2011)."The coming of the Greeks to Provence and Corsica: Y-chromosome models of archaic Greek colonization of the western Mediterranean".BMC Evolutionary Biology.11(1): 69.Bibcode:2011BMCEE..11...69K.doi:10.1186/1471-2148-11-69.ISSN 1471-2148.PMC3068964.PMID 21401952.
Lafond, Yves (2006). "Massalia".Brill's New Pauly.doi:10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e725870.
Rivet, A. L. F.; Drinkwater, John F. (2016). "Massalia".Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics.doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.3997.ISBN 9780199381135.