CHAP. 5. (4.)—OF THE PROVINCE OF GALLIA NARBONENSIS.
That part of the Gallias which is washed by the inland sea[1]
is called the province of [Gallia] Narbonensis[2], having
formerly borne the name of Braccata[3]. It is divided from
Italy by the river Varus[4], and by the range of the Alps, the
great safeguards of the Roman Empire. From the remainder
of Gaul, on the north, it is separated by the mountains
Cebenna[5] and Jura[6]. In the cultivation of the soil, the
manners and civilization of the inhabitants, and the extent of its
wealth, it is surpassed by none of the provinces, and, in short,
might be more truthfully described as a part of Italy than
as a province. On the coast we have the district of the
Sordones[7], and more inland that of the Consuarani[8]. The
rivers are the Tecum and the Vernodubrum[9]. The towns
are Illiberis[10], the scanty remains of what was formerly a great
city, and Ruscino[11], a town with Latian rights. We then
come to the river Atax[12], which flows from the Pyrenees, and
passes through the Rubrensian Lake[13], the town of Narbo
Martius, a colony of the tenth legion, twelve miles distant
from the sea, and the rivers Arauris[14] and Liria[15]. The towns
are otherwise but few in number, in consequence of the
numerous lakes[16] which skirt the sea-shore. We have Agatha[17],
formerly belonging to the Massilians, and the district of
the Volcæ Tectosages[18]; and there is the spot where Rhoda[19],
a Rhodian colony, formerly stood, from which the river takes
its name of Rhodanus[20]; a stream by far the most fertilizing
of any in either of the Gallias. Descending from the Alps
and rushing through lake Lemanus[21], it carries along with it
the sluggish Arar[22], as well as the torrents of the Isara and
the Druentia[23], no less rapid than itself. Its two smaller
mouths are called Libica[24], one being the Spanish, and the
other the Metapinian mouth; the third and largest is called
the Massiliotic[25]. There are some authors who state that there
was formerly a town called Heraclea[26] at the mouth of the
Rhodanus or Rhone.
Beyond this are the Canals[27] leading out of the Rhone, a
famous work of Caius Marius, and still distinguished by his
name; the Lake of Mastramela[28], the town of Maritima[29] of the
Avatici, and, above this, the Stony Plains[30], memorable for the
battles of Hercules; the district of the Anatilii[31], and more
inland, that of the Desuviates[32] and the Cavari. Again, close
upon the sea, there is that of the Tricorii[33], and inland, there
are the Tricolli[34], the Vocontii[35], and the Segovellauni, and,
after them, the Allobroges[36].
On the coast is Massilia, a colony of Phocæan[37] Greeks,
and a federate[38] city; we then have the Promontory of Zao[39],
the port of Citharista[40], and the district of the
Camatullici[41];
then the Suelteri[42], and above them the Verrucini[43]. Again,
on the coast, we find Athenopolis[44], belonging to the Massilians, Forum Julii[45] Octavanorum, a colony, which is also
called Pacensis and Classica, the river Argenteus[46], which
flows through it, the district of the Oxubii[47] and that of the
Ligauni[48]; above whom are the Suetri[49], the
Quariates[50] and the
Adunicates[51]. On the coast we have Antipolis[52], a town with
Latian rights, the district of the Deciates, and the river Varus,
which proceeds from Mount Cema, one of the Alps.
The colonies in the interior are Arelate Sextanorum[53],
Beterræ Septimanorum[54], and Arausio[55] Secundanorum;
Valentia[56] in the territory of the Cavari, and Vienna[57]
in that of
the Allobroges. The towns that enjoy Latian rights are Aquæ
Sextiæ[58] in the territory of the Saluvii, Avenio[59] in
that of the
Cavari, Apta Julia[60] in that of the Volgientes, Alebece[61]
in that
of the Reii Apollinares, Alba[62] in that of the Helvi, and
Augusta[63] in that of the Tricastini, Anatilia, Aeria[64],
the Bormanni[65], the Comaci, Cabellio[66], Carcasum[67]
in the territory of
the Volcæ Tectosages, Cessero[68], Carpentoracte[69] in
the territory of the Memini, the Cenicenses[70], the
Cambolectri[71], surnamed the Atlantici, Forum[72] Voconi,
Glanum Livi[73], the
Lutevani[74], also called the Foroneronienses[75],
Nemausum[76] in
the territory of the Arecomici, Piscenæ[77], the Ruteni[78], the
Sanagenses[79], the Tolosani[80] in the territory of the Tectosages
on the confines of Aquitania, the Tasconi[81], the
Tarusconienses[82], the Umbranici[83], Vasio[84] and
Lucus Augusti[85], the two
capitals of the federate state of the Vocontii. There are also
nineteen towns of less note, as well as twenty-four belonging
to the people of Nemausum. To this list[86] the Emperor Galba
added two tribes dwelling among the Alps, the Avantici[87]
and the Bodiontici, to whom belongs the town of Dinia[88].
According to Agrippa the length of the province of Gallia
Narbonensis is 370 miles, and its breadth 248[89].
1. Or Mediterranean.
2. From the chief city Narbo Martius, and later Narbona, now Narbonne, situate on the river Atax, now Aude. It was made a Roman
colony by the Consul Q. Martius B.C. 118, and from him
received its surname. It was the residence of the Roman governor of
the province and
a place of great commercial importance. There are scarcely any remains
of the ancient city, but some vestiges of the canal, by which it was
connected with the sea at twelve miles' distance.
3. From the linen breeches which the inhabitants wore, a fashion which
was not adopted by the Romans till the time of the Emperors. Severus
wore them, but the use of them was restricted by Honorius.
4. Still called the 'Var.' It divides France from Nice, a province of
Sardinia.
5. Now the Cevennes. They lie as much to the west as the north of
Gallia Narbonensis.
6. The range of the Jura, north of the Lake of Geneva.
7. Inhabiting the former Comte de Roussillon, or Département
des Pyrénées Orientales. They were said to have been originally
a Bebrycian or Thracian colony.
8. Probably the inhabitants of the present Conserans, on the west of
the Département de l' Arriége.
9. Probably the Tech, and the Verdouble, which falls into the Gly.
10. Probably the present Elne, on the Tech.
11. The present Castel Roussillon.
12. The Aude of the present day.
13. The bodies of water now called Etangs de Bages et de Sigean.
14. Now the Herault.
15. Now called the Lez, near the city of Montpellier.
16. Now called Etangs de Leucate, de Sigean, de Gruissan, de Vendres,
de Thau, de Maguelonne, de Perols, de Mauguio, du Repausset; Marais
d'Escamandre, de Lermitane et de la Souteyrane, and numerous others.
17. Now the town of Agde. Strabo also informs us that this place was
founded by the Massilians.
18. This people seems to have inhabited the eastern parts of the
departments of l'Arriége and the Haute Garonne, that of Aude, the
south of that of Tarn, and of that of Herault, except the arrondissement of
Montpellier.
19. Dalechamp takes this to be Foz les Martigues; but the locality is
doubtful. Most probably this is the same place that is mentioned by
Strabo as Rhoë, in conjunction with the town of Agathe or Agde, and
the Rodanusia of Stephen of Byzantium, who places it in the district of
Massilia or Marseilles.
20. Now the Rhone.
21. Now the Lake of Geneva.
22. The modern Saone.
23. Now the rivers Isère and Durance.
24. Most probably from Libici, a town in the south of Gaul, of which
there are coins in existence, but nothing else seems to be known. At
the present day there are four mouths of the Rhone, the most westerly
of which is called the "Dead" Rhone; the next the "Lesser" Rhone;
the third the "Old" Rhone; and the fourth simply the Rhone. D'Anville
considers the "Lesser" Rhone to have been the "Spanish" mouth
of the ancients. In consequence of the overflowings of this river there is
great confusion upon this subject.
25. This mouth of the Rhone was much used by the Massilians for the
purposes of commerce with the interior of Gaul, and the carriage of the
supplies of tin which they obtained thence.
26. The manner in which Pliny here expresses himself shows that he
doubts the fact of such a place having even existed; it is mentioned by
none of the preceding geographers, and of those who followed him Stephen
of Byzantium is the only one who notices it. An inscription was found
however in the reign of Charles V. of France, in which it was stated that
Ataulphus, king of the Visigoths, selected Heraclea as his place of residence. On the faith of this inscription, Spon and Ducange have placed
Heraclea at the modern Saint-Gilles, and other writers at Saint-Remy,
where the inscription was found. Unfortunately, however, Messrs. Devic
and Vaissette, in their "History of Languedoc," have proved that this
inscription is of spurious origin.
27. The "Fossæ Marianæ" are also mentioned by Ptolemy and Solinus;
though they differ in the situation which they have respectively assigned
them. They were formed by Marius when advancing to dispute the
passage of the Rhone with the Cimbri, who had quitted Spain for the
purpose of passing the Pyrenees and invading Italy, in the year B.C. 102.
There is considerable difficulty in determining their position, but they
are supposed to have commenced at the place now called the Camp of
Marius, and to have terminated at the eastern mouth of the Rhone near
the present Arles.
28. Pliny is the first who mentions the name of this lake, though
previous writers had indicated its existence. Strabo informs us that
above
the mouth of the Rhone there is a large lake that communicates with the
sea, and abounds in fish and oysters. Brotier and D'Anville identify it
with the present lake of Martigues or of Berre.
29. D'Anville takes this place to be the present town of Martigues;
Brotier thinks that it was situate on the spot now called Le Cap
d'Œil, near
the town of Saint-Chamas; and Bouche, the historian of the Province,
places it at Marignane, on the east side of the lake already mentioned.
30. "Campi Lapidei," called by the natives at the present day "LaCrau;"
probably from the same Celtic root as our word "Crags;" though Bochart
derives it from the Hebrew. Æschylus and Hyginus speak of this
combat of Hercules, and Mela relates that being engaged in a mortal
struggle
with Albion and Geryon, the sons of Neptune, he invoked the aid of
Jupiter, on which a shower of stones fell from the heavens and destroyed
his antagonists. Those on this plain are said to be the remains of the
stony shower. It is supposed by the scientific that many of these stones
are aërolites, and that tradition has ingeniously adapted this story to
their real origin. The vicinity of Tunbridge Wells presents a somewhat
similar appearance.
31. The people probably of the site of the present isle of Camargue.
32. They probably inhabited the district south of the Durance, between
it and the Rhone.
33. They inhabited the country in which the present Avignon, Orange,
Cavaillon, and perhaps Carpentras are situate.
34. They are thought by Hardouin to have dwelt in the vicinity of the
present town of Talard in the department of the Hautes Alpes.
35. They inhabited the eastern part of the departments of the Drôme and
the Vaucluse.
36. Their territory comprehended the southern part of the department
of the Ain, the department of the Isère, the canton of Geneva, and part
of Savoy.
37. It was said to have been colonized from Phocæa, a town of Ionia in
Asia Minor. Lucan in his Third Book more than once falls into the
error of supposing that it was colonized from Phocis in Greece.
38. We learn from Justin, B. xliii., that this privilege, as well as others,
and a seat at the public shows, were granted to the Massilians by the
Roman Senate, in return for their sympathy and assistance after the city
had been taken and plundered by the Gauls.
39. According to D'Anville the present Cap de l'Aigre, though Mannert
takes it to be the Cap de la Croisette.
40. D'Anville takes this to be the same as the present Port de la
Ciotat.
41. Probably occupying the south-east of the department of the Var.
It is supposed by Hardouin that the village of Ramatuelle, near the coast,
south of the Gulf of Grimaud, represents the ancient name; and
D'Anville and other writers are of the same opinion.
42. Probably the country around the modern Brignole and Draguignan
was inhabited by them.
43. They inhabited Verignon and Barjols in the southern part of the
department of the Var.
44. D'Anville takes this to be the place called Agaï, between Frejus and
La Napoule: but in so doing he disregards the order in which they are
given by Pliny.
45. "The Forum of Julius." Now Frejus. As its name implies, it was a
colony of the Eighth Legion. It was probably called 'Pacensis,' on some
occasion when peace had happily been made with the original inhabitants,
and 'Classica' from the fleet being stationed there by Augustus.
46. Still known as the Argens, from the silvery appearance of the water.
It has choked up the harbour with sand, in which probably the ships
of Augustus rode at anchor.
47. They inhabited the coast, in the vicinity of the modern Cannes.
48. They are supposed to have inhabited the country of Grasse, in the
south-east of the department of the Var.
49. According to Ptolemy they had for their capital the town of Salinæ;
which some take to be the modern Saluces, others Castellane, and others
again Seillans, according to Holstein and D'Anville.
50. D'Anville thinks that they lived in the valley of Queyras, in
the department of the Hautes Alpes, having a town of the same
name.
51. The Adunicates are supposed by Hardouin to have inhabited the
department of the Basses Alpes, between the towns of Senez and Digne.
52. The modem Antibes. Mount Cema is the present Monte-Cemelione.
53. "Arelate of the Sixth Legion," a military colony; now the city of
Arles. It is first mentioned by Cæsar, who had some ships built there
for the siege of Massilia or Marseilles. It was made a military colony in
the time of Augustus.
54. "Beterræ of the Seventh Legion." The modern town of Beziers.
55. "Arausio of the Second Legion," now Orange, a town in the
department of Vaucluse.
56. Now Valence, in the department of the Drôme.
57. Now Vienne, in the department of the Isère.
58. Aix, in the department of the Bouches du Rhône.
59. Avignon, in the Vaucluse.
60. Apt, in the department of Vaucluse.
61. Riez, in the department of the Basses Alpes.
62. The modern Alps, near Viviers, is probably built on the site of this
town. The text shows that it was different from Augusta, probably the
Alba Augusta mentioned by Ptolemy, though D'Anville supposes them
to have been the same place.
63. Some writers take this place to be the present Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, in the department of the Drôme.
64. Probably so called from its lofty position, and supposed by D'Anville
to have been situate on the modern Mont Ventoux, or "Windy Mountain."
Other writers place it at La Croix Haute, near the city of Avignon.
65. There is a village in the department of the Var, six leagues from
Toulon, called Bormes, not improbably from these people.
66. The modern Cavaillon, in the department of the Vaucluse.
67. Now Carcassone, in the department of the Aude.
68. Probably Saint Tibéry, on the river Hérault.
69. Now Carpentras. Ptolemy also makes mention of the Memini.
70. Probably situate on the river Cœnus of Ptolemy, between the eastern
mouth of the Rhone and Massilia. Probably the name in Pliny should
be "Cœnienses."
71. Walckenaer places this people in the vicinity of Cambo, in the
arrondissement of Bayonne, in the department of the Basses
Pyrenees.
72. In names similar to this, as Festus remarks, "Forum" has the
meaning of "Market;" much as that word is used as a compound in our
names, such as Market Drayton, &c. Bouche thinks that by this place
is meant the modern Le Canet: but D'Anville takes it to be Gonfaron,
a corruption, he thinks, of Voconfaron from the Latin name.
73. The site of Glanum was about a mile to the south of the village
of Saint Remi, between Cavaillon and Aries. On the spot there are the
remains of a Roman mausoleum and a triumphal arch.
74. The people of Luteva, now Lodève, in the department of the
Hérault.
75. "The people of Forum Neronis," which place has been supposed by
some to have been the same with Carpentoracte: D'Anville supposes Forcalquier to have been Forum Neronis, while Walckenaer takes Momas to
have been that place. From the text it would appear to have been
identical with Luteva.
76. The modern Nismes, which in its ruins contains abundant marks of
its ancient splendour. The family of the Antonines came from this place.
The remains of its aqueduct still survive, containing three rows of arches,
one above the other, and 180 feet in height.
77. The people of the present Pézenas, in the department of the
Hérault.
78. Their chief town is supposed to have been Albiga, now Albi, in the
department of Tarn.
79. The inhabitants of the present Senez in the Basses Alpes. De la
Saussaye says that their coins read 'Samnagenses,' and not' Sanagenses,'
and that they inhabited Senas, a town in the vicinity of Aix.
80. Their chief town was Tolosa, now Toulouse, in the department of the
Haute-Garonne.
81. They probably lived in the vicinity of the present Montauban, in the
department of the Tarn et Garonne.
82. Probably the inhabitants of the site of the modern town of Tarascon.
There is, however, considerable doubt as to these two names.
83. Poinsinet thinks that they occupied Vabres, a place situate in the
south of the department of Aveyron.
84. Now Vaison, in the department of Vaucluse.
85. "The Grove of Augustus." This town appears to have been
overflowed by the river Druma, which formed a lake on its site. Its
remains
were still to be seen in the lake in modern times, and from it the town
on the margin of the lake takes its name of Le Luc.
86. Under the name "formula" Pliny perhaps alludes to the official list
of the Roman government, which he had consulted for the purposes of
accuracy.
87. Bouche places the site of this people at the village of
Avançon, between Chorges and Gap, in the department of the Hautes
Alpes.
88. The present town of Digne, in the department of the Basses Alpes.
89. It is not known from what points these measurements of our author
are taken.