Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul
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The Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul have a significant history of settlement, trade, cultural influence, and armed conflict in the Celtic territory of Gaul (modern France), starting from the 6th century BC during the Greek Archaic period. Following the founding of the major trading post of Massalia in 600 BC by the Phocaeans at present day Marseille, Massalians had a complex history of interaction with peoples of the region. Large Greek colonies also existed west of the Rhône, particularly at Agde and Béziers, the latter of which both predates, and was larger than, the Marseille colony.[1][2]
Massalia
The oldest city of modern France,
A foundation myth reported by
It is thought that contacts started even earlier, however, as
Before the Greeks came to pre-eminence in the
According to Charles Ebel, writing in the 1960s, "Massalia was not an isolated Greek city, but had developed an Empire of its own along the coast of southern Gaul by the fourth century".[14] But the idea of a Massalian "empire" is no longer credible in the light of recent archaeological evidence, which shows that Massalia never even had a very large chora (agricultural territory under its direct control).[15] However further archaeological evidence since shows Massalia had over twelve cities in its network in France, Spain, Monaco and Corsica. Cities Massalia founded that still exist today are Nice, Antibes, Monaco, Le Brusc, Agde, and Aleria. There is evidence of direct rule of at least two of their cities with a flexible system of autonomy as suggested by Emporion and Rhodus' own coin minting. Massalia's empire was not the same as the monolithic empires of the ancient world or of the nineteenth century, being a scattered group of cities connected by the sea and rivers. The Delian League was also a scattered group of cities spread far across the sea and became known as the Athenian Empire.[16]
Massalia eventually became a centre of culture which drew some Roman parents to send their children there to be educated. According to earlier views, a purported Hellenization of Southern France prior to the Roman Conquest of Transalpine Gaul is thought to have been largely due to the influence of Massalia.[17][18] However, more recent scholarship has shown that the idea of Hellenization was illusory (and that the concept itself is seriously flawed).[citation needed] The power and cultural influence of Massalia have been called into question by demonstrating the limited territorial control of the city and showing the distinctive cultures of indigenous societies. Local Gauls were not Grecophiles who wanted to imitate Greek culture, but peoples who selectively consumed a very limited range of Greek objects (mostly ceramic vessels for drink) that they incorporated into their own cultural practices according to their own systems of value.[19][20]
Greek trade in Gaul
These eastern Greeks, established on the shores of southern France, were in close relations with the
From Massalia, maritime trade also developed with
The mother city of Phocaea would ultimately be destroyed by the
Coinage
Coins in northern Gaul were especially influenced by the coinage of Philip II of Macedon and his famous son Alexander the Great.[28]
Celtic coins often retained Greek subjects, such as the head of Apollo on the obverse and two-horse chariot on the reverse of the gold stater of Philip II, but developed their own style from that basis, thus establishing a Graeco-Celtic synthesis.[17][28]
After this first period in which Celtic coins rather faithfully reproduced Greek types, designs started to become more symbolic, as exemplified by the coinage of the Parisii in the Belgic region of northern France.[28] By the 2nd century BC, the Greek chariot was only represented by a symbolic wheel.[17]
The Armorican Celtic style in northwestern Gaul also developed from Celtic designs from the Rhine valley, themselves derived from earlier Greek prototypes such as the wine scroll and split palmette.[28]
With the Roman invasion of Gaul, Greek-inspired Celtic coinage started to incorporate Roman influence instead, until it disappeared to be completely replaced by Roman coinage.[28]
By the 1st century BC, the coinage of the Greeks of Marseille circulated freely in Gaul,[17] also influencing coinage as far afield as Great Britain. The coins of the Sunbury hoard, thought to have been manufactured in Kent, show designs derived from Greek coins from Marseille with the stylised head of Apollo and a butting bull.[31] Recently,[when?] original bronze coins from the 3rd or 2nd century BC from Greek Marseille have been found in several locations around Kent, UK.[32]
Coins from the 5th to 1st century BC
Celtic coin designs progressively became more abstract, as is exemplified by the coins of the Parisii:
-
Massalia
-
Emporiae
-
Biga and driver on a Sequanian coin
-
Santones (based in present-day Charente-Maritime)
-
More abstract chariot and driver on Santonian coin
Legacy
Overland trade with Celtic countries beyond the Mediterranean region declined around 500 BC, in conjunction with the troubles following the end of the Halstatt civilization.[4] The site of Mont Lassois was abandoned around that time.[4]
The Greek colony of Massalia remained active in the following centuries. Around 325 BC,
The
During his conquest of Gaul, Caesar reported that the Helvetii were in possession of documents in the Greek script, and all Gaulish coins used the Greek script until about 50 BC.[17]
See also
Notes
- ^ Daniela, Ugolini (January 2018). "The Greeks West of the Rhone (F). Genesis, Evolution and End of a Greek Area". Journal of Greek Archaeology.
- ^ https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01412295/document [bare URL PDF]
- ^ a b c d e The Cambridge ancient history p.754
- ^ a b c d e f A history of ancient Greece Claude Orrieux p.62
- S2CID 225840681.
- ^ The Celts: a history by Raithi O Hogain, p.27
- ^ A Companion to the Classical Greek World Konrad H. Kinzl p.183
- ^ Archaeologies of Colonialism: Consumption, Entanglement, and Violence in Ancient Mediterranean France by Michael Dietler, 2010, p. 308-321 [1]
- ^ Marc Bouiron and Henri Tréziny (eds.) Marseille: trames et paysages urbains de Gyptis au Roi René, 2001, Edisud.
- ^ a b Transalpine Gaul: the emergence of a Roman province by Charles Ebel p.10- [2]
- ^ The western shores of Turkey: discovering the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts by John Freely p.91 [3]
- ^ a b c A history of ancient Greece Claude Orrieux p.61
- ^ Archaeologies of Colonialism: Consumption, Entanglement, and Violence in Ancient Mediterranean France by Michael Dietler, 2010, p.157-182 [4]
- ^ Transalpine Gaul: the emergence of a Roman province by Charles Ebel p.2
- ^ Archaeologies of Colonialism: Consumption, Entanglement, and Violence in Ancient Mediterranean France by Michael Dietler, 2010 [5]
- ^ The Greek Empire of Marseille: Discoverer of Britain, Saviour of Rome by Christopher Gunstone, 2013, p.37, p.150
- ^ a b c d e f The European Iron Age by John Collis p.144 ff
- ^ King 1990, pp. 11–33, Chapter I, "Greeks and Celts"
- ^ "World's richest cities in 2009". City Mayors. 22 August 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
- ^ "The Iron Age in Mediterranean France: colonial encounters, entanglements, and transformations" by Michael Dietler, Journal of World Prehistory 1997, vol.11, pages 269-357
- ^ Consumption and Colonial Encounters in the Rhône Basin of France: A Study of Early Iron Age Political Economy by Michael Dietler, Monographies d’Archéologie Meditérranéenne, 21, CNRS, 2005, p.39-102
- ^ L'oppidum de Vix et la civilisation hallstattienne finale dans l'Est de la France by René Joffroy. Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 1960
- ^ Ireland and the classical world by Philip Freeman p.32
- ^ The History of Cartography John Brian Harley p.150
- ^ The ancient mariners Lionel Casson p.74
- ^ a b A history of ancient Greece Claude Orrieux p.63
- ^ Consumption and Colonial Encounters in the Rhône Basin of France: A Study of Early Iron Age Political Economy by Michael Dietler, Monographies d’Archéologie Meditérranéenne, 21. CNRS, 2005.[6]
- ^ a b c d e f g Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia" John T. Koch p.461-
- ^ Boardman, John (1993), The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity, Princeton University Press, p.308.
- ^ Celtic Inscriptions on Gaulish and British Coins" by Beale Poste p.135 [7]
- ^ Museum of London exhibit
- ^ The Greek Empire of Marseille: Discoverer of Britain, Saviour of Rome, (2013) p. 176, p. 548
- ^ Showing stylised head of Apollo and butting bull
- ^ The History of Cartography by John Brian Harley p.150
- ^ a b The hellenistic world by Frank William Walbank p.205
- ^ The History of Cartography John Brian Harley p.150-
- ^ European prehistory: a survey Sarunas Milisauskas p.354
- ^ The archaeology of late Celtic Britain and Ireland, c. 400–1200 AD Lloyd Robert Laing p.342
References
- Boardman, John (1993), The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-03680-2
- Dietler, Michael (2005), Consumption and Colonial Encounters in the Rhône Basin of France: A Study of Early Iron Age Political Economy, Monographies d’Archéologie Meditérranéenne, 21. CNRS, ISBN 2-912369-10-X
- Dietler, Michael (2010), Archaeologies of Colonialism: Consumption, Entanglement, and Violence in Ancient Mediterranean France, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-520-26551-6
- Ebel, Charles (1966), Pre-Roman Greeks in Gaul, University of Iowa
- Gunstone, Christopher (2013), The Greek Empire of Marseille: Discoverer of Britain, Saviour of Rome, CreateSpace, ISBN 978-1481239660
- King, Anthony (1990), Roman Gaul and Germany, University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-06989-7