Abstract
Several cities and settlements of coastal Provence betray their Greek origin in their name, such as Antibes, which started out as Antipolis, meaning ‘city opposite’, and Nice, which used to be Nikaia. The most interesting of them all is the town now known as Marseilles, which in Phoenician means ‘settlement’. ‘Massalia’ looks at the myth of the foundations of this settlement. Massalia provides a good representation of a city of the ‘Western Greeks’. The physical attractions of Massalia, with good harbours and natural hilly defences, were immense. It was a key settlement for trade and the economy. We know little about the political system of Massalia.
