Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul

The Greeks had an important history in the land we now call France long before the Romans arrived.

Starting in the 6th century BC, during a time called the Greek Archaic period, Greek people from a place called Phocaea set up a big trading town called Massalia where the city of Marseille stands today. This town became a center for trade and culture.

From Massalia, the Greeks formed many other settlements. Two important towns west of the Rhône River were Agde and Béziers. Béziers was actually older and bigger than Marseille and showed how strong Greek influence was in the area. These Greek communities traded with local people, shared their ideas, and sometimes had to defend themselves, shaping the history of the Celtic peoples who lived in Gaul.

Massalia

Marseille, the oldest city in modern France, was founded around 600 BC by Greeks from Phocaea in Asia Minor. It began as a trading post called Massalia. Another old Greek settlement, Béziers, was older than Marseille but was not used for a time.

The Greeks from Phocaea also set up other towns along the coast, such as Agde, Nice, and Monaco. They had some battles with local groups and other traders but also made agreements with Rome. Over time, Marseille became an important place for learning, and some Roman families sent their children there to study.

Greek trade in Gaul

Further information: Tin sources and trade in ancient times

The Greeks who lived in southern France had good relationships with the local Celtic people. In the late 6th and 5th centuries BC, Greek items traveled north along the Rhône, Saône, and Isère valleys. Things like Massalian pottery have been found as far north as Lons-le-Saunier, and bronze arrowheads reached northern France. The place called Vix in Burgundy is well-known for its treasures, including a very large bronze bowl called the Vix krater.

Trade from Massalia went to Languedoc, Etruria, and the Greek city of Emporiae in Spain. Trade routes went as far as Gades and Tartessus on the western coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Goods traded included iron, spices, wheat, and slaves. There were also connections for trading tin, which was important for making bronze, but proof of this trade is limited.

Coinage

Coins in pre-Roman Gaul

Massalia made silver drachma coins from 375–200 BC. These coins showed the Greek goddess Artemis and a lion, with the words “ΜΑΣΣΑ(ΛΙΑ)” meaning “Massalia.”

Celtic people started making their own coins in the 4th century BC, copying designs from the Greeks. These coins often showed Greek gods like Apollo and symbols such as a two-horse chariot. Over time, the designs changed and became more symbolic. By the 2nd century BC, the chariot was shown as just a wheel.

The style of coins in northwestern Gaul came from designs that originated in the Rhine valley, which were based on earlier Greek ideas.

With the Roman conquest, Greek designs on Celtic coins began to include Roman styles. Eventually, Roman coins replaced the Greek-inspired ones.

By the 1st century BC, coins from the Greeks in Marseille were used widely in Gaul and even influenced coins as far as Britain. Recent finds show that bronze coins from Marseille made in the 3rd or 2nd century BC have been discovered in places around Kent, UK.

Legacy

Trade between the Greeks and Celtic lands far from the Mediterranean slowed down around 500 BC, partly because of problems after the end of the Halstatt civilization. Around the same time, the place called Mont Lassois was left empty.

The Greek colony of Massalia stayed busy for many years after that. Around 325 BC, a man named Pytheas traveled far to the north of Europe, reaching as far as the Arctic Circle, starting from his home in Marseilles. What he learned helped people like Dicaearchus, Timaeus, and Eratosthenes make better maps of the world and understand latitude better.

The La Tène style came from new ways of looking at patterns on items brought from Greece or Etruria. When Caesar was taking over Gaul, he noted that the Helvetii had papers written in Greek letters, and coins made in Gaul often used Greek letters until around 50 BC.