Ancient Marseille in the Light of Recent Excavations

Autor: Maurice Euzennat
Rok vydání: 1980
Předmět:
Zdroj: American Journal of Archaeology. 84:133-140
ISSN: 1939-828X
0002-9114
DOI: 10.2307/504261
Popis: The information recovered from recent excavations in the heart of Marseille, taken with previously known data, has permitted reconstructions of the way in which the ancient city developed and of the economic role which Marseille played from the time of Greek colonization through the Roman period. An important group of ancient ruins was found in March 1967, in the course of ground levelling of unusual extent undertaken in the heart of Marseille, behind the Palais de la Bourse, about 150 m. north of the Vieux-Port (pl. 22, fig. I). The discovery created a certain amount of interest, more for its potential economic and political implications than for the rare historical and monumental value of the remains. Before this discovery little of ancient Massalia was actually known: the remains of some Christian religious buildings; the location of a few outlying necropoleis; the substructures of Roman horrea near the port; the meager vestiges of a theater; a large Ionic capital, probably votive; a few Latin and Greek inscriptions; a collection of naiskoi dedicated to Cybele; and a fairly extensive group of Greek sherds studied lately by F. Villard. If we include several minor finds and acknowledge the remarks, unfortunately often conflicting, made by local scholars, this limited picture can be considered more or less complete.' The persistent, if peculiar, lack of interest exhibited by the inhabitants of Marseille in the oldest period of the city's history can hardly be offset by the isolated efforts of some scholars. From 1862 to 1864, in spite of Napoleon III's personal interest in archaeology, over a kilometer of the city's heart was ripped up by the construction of the rue Imperiale, later the rue de la Republique, causing irretrievable loss since no serious study of the area was made. Since 1913, the gradual demolition of old housing blocks behind the Bourse has revealed remains of sufficient importance to suggest that significant discoveries could be made in the course of such work. Reconstruction of the area has been delayed, but no preliminary excavation was planned. Finally in 1943, the complete demolition of the quarter on the north shore of the Vieux-Port provided an unexpected occasion for research which was not exploited, despite the efforts of Henri Rolland and Fernand Benoit. It is therefore in this eminently unpromising context that the discoveries of 1967 must be placed. The Administration of Antiquities intervened and temporarily protected the area, but the burden of the compensation paid to the city of Marseille for the site was such that sufficient funds for detailed excavations could not be allocated. In the beginning, researchers had to be satisfied with superficial examination of the visible remains; then they had to excavate hastily areas which were about to be destroyed, without even being able to study completely those ruins meant for preservation. This portion represents only one-fourth of the original archaeological zone, and its condition bodes ill for the work which is still to be done. Given this situation, one must be satisfied with sorting out the evidence which exists.2 * The manuscript is translated from the original French. The photographs are by the Institut d'Archeologie Miditerrane Benoit, "The New Excavations at Marseille," AJA 53 (1949) 237-40; Benoit, "Topographie antique de Marseille: le theatre et le mur de Crinas," Gallia 24 (1966) 1-20. The major work remains that of M. Clerc, Massalia. Histoire de Marseille dans l'Antiquitd, des origines a' la fin de I'Empire romain d'Occident 2 vols. (Marseille 1927-1929). A detailed bibliography may be found in M. Euzennat and F. Salviat, "Les fouilles de Marseille (Mars-Avril 1968)," CRAI 1968, 145-59. 2 Euzennat and Salviat (supra n. i); M. Euzennat, "Les This content downloaded from 207.46.13.149 on Thu, 20 Oct 2016 04:01:00 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 134 MAURICE EUZENNAT [AJA 84 Considered as a whole, the known remains are of great complexity. But the numerous levels are generally coherent, and the history of the site which can be deduced from them is relatively simple in its outlines. At the time when the Phokaians settled Marseille, the deep and narrow bay ("calanque") which later became the Vieux-Port was much larger and deeper than it is today (ill. I). It penetrated inland Laa Joliette t. Charles
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