Marseille: A Late Antique Success Story?

Abstract

Documentary and archaeological evidence concurs in placing the foundation of Marseille by colonists from Phocaea in around 600 B.C. The site can only have been chosen with an eye to its maritime commercial potential. Surrounded on the landward side by a chain of hills, the city's immediate hinterland was tiny, and only moderately fertile. Geographically, in the words of Camille Jullian, ‘Marseille … semble tourner le dos à la Provence’. But thanks to its magnificent, sheltered, deep-water harbour, now known as the Vieux-Port, the city has been a focal point for Mediterranean trade throughout its long history, and its immediate landward isolation has not affected its ability to exploit the Rhône corridor and establish commercial relations with the interior of France. Its location makes it a classic gateway community.