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79-428: Caesar seemed to want to use the law to prepare for a war of choice against the kingdom of Dacia. However, after the unexpected death of the governor of Transalpine Gaul , and at the proposal of Pompey and Piso , the senate also added to Caesar's assigned provinces the further Gaul as well, giving him another legion. According to Cicero and Suetonius, the senate's assignment was done out of fear that if they did not do so,

158-535: A proconsulship in Gaul also gave Caesar legal immunity against prosecution by his political enemies and a number of armies. While Caesar did not appear to desire a war against his countrymen upon his prorogation pro consule to Gaul and Illyricum, the following Gallic Wars and his subsequent personal popularity, led to a confrontation with the senate and Caesar's decision to go to war to protect his personal interests. Sources This article about Roman law

237-500: A region of France. By the mid-2nd century BC, Rome was trading heavily with the Greek colony of Massalia (modern Marseille ) on the southern coast of Gaul. Massalia, founded by colonists from Phocaea , was by this point centuries old and quite prosperous. Rome entered into an alliance with Massalia, by which it agreed to protect the town from local Gauls , nearby Aquitani , sea-borne Carthaginians and other rivals, in exchange for

316-638: A Name" ( Ville sans Nom .) In Toulon, the opponents of the Revolution handed the city to a British and Spanish fleet on 28 August 1793. A Revolutionary Army laid siege to the British positions for four months (see the Siege of Toulon ) and finally, the enterprise of the young commander of artillery, Napoleon Bonaparte defeated the British and drove them out in December 1793. About 15,000 royalists escaped with

395-735: A Roman province in the late 2nd century BC. Gallia Narbonensis was bordered by the Pyrenees Mountains on the west, the Cévennes to the north, the Alps on the east, and the Gulf of Lion on the south; the province included the majority of the Rhone catchment. The western region of Gallia Narbonensis was known as Septimania . The province was a valuable part of the Roman Empire , owing to

474-520: A base for a new French Mediterranean fleet. The base was greatly enlarged by Jean-Baptiste Colbert , the minister of Louis XIV, who also commissioned his chief military engineer Vauban to strengthen the fortifications around the city. At the beginning of the 17th century, Provence had a population of about 450,000 people. It was predominantly rural, devoted to raising wheat, wine, and olives, with small industries for tanning, pottery, perfume-making, and ship and boat building. Provençal quilts , made from

553-620: A cave above sea level. Inside, the walls of the Cosquer Cave are decorated with drawings of bison, seals, auks, horses and outlines of human hands, dating to between 27,000 and 19,000 BC. The end of the Paleolithic and beginning of the Neolithic period saw the sea settle at its present level, a warming of the climate and the retreat of the forests. The disappearance of the forests and the deer and other easily hunted game meant that

632-642: A distinct cultural and linguistic identity, particularly in the interior of the region. The region got its name in Roman times, when it was known as Provincia Romana , simply "the Roman province". This name eventually was shortened to Provincia (the province), and as the language evolved from Latin to Provençal , so did the pronunciation and spelling. The coast of Provence has some of the earliest known sites of human habitation in Europe. Primitive stone tools dating back 1 to 1.05 million years BC have been found in

711-698: A prize in the complex rivalries between the Catalan rulers of Barcelona , the kings of Burgundy , the German rulers of the Holy Roman Empire , and the Angevin kings of France. The Bosonids (879–1112) were the descendants of the first king of Provence, Boson. His son, Louis the Blind (890–928), lost his sight trying to win the throne of Italy, after which his cousin, Hugh of Italy (died 947), became

790-465: A series of small colonies and trading posts along the coast; which later became towns; they founded Citharista ( La Ciotat ); Tauroeis (Le Brusc); Olbia (near Hyères ); Pergantion (Breganson); Caccabaria ( Cavalaire ); Athenopolis ( Saint-Tropez ); Antipolis ( Antibes ); Nikaia ( Nice ), and Monoicos ( Monaco ). They established inland towns at Glanum ( Saint-Remy ) and Mastrabala ( Saint-Blaise ). The most famous citizen of Massalia

869-593: A small strip of land that it wanted in order to build a road to Hispania , to assist in troop transport. The Massalians, for their part, cared more for their economic prosperity than they did for territorial integrity. During this period, the Mediterranean settlements on the coast were threatened by the powerful Gallic tribes to the north, especially the tribes known as the Arverni and the Allobroges . In

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948-712: A tribune would introduce and the people would pass further legislation assigning the province as well. The army assigned to Caesar in Cisalpine Gaul and the provinces close to it would prove both useful in Caesar's civil war and, in the immediate term, for the protection of Caesar's legislative programme against repeal. The law – importantly – gave Caesar, as governor of the provinces, a chance to show his martial quality with great potential for military glory. To that end, he campaigned extensively in Germany, Britain, and Gaul;

1027-642: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Transalpine Gaul Gallia Narbonensis ( Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne ", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in what is now Occitania and Provence , in Southern France . It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was the first Roman province north of the Alps , and as Gallia Transalpina ("Transalpine Gaul"), distinguishing it from Cisalpine Gaul in Northern Italy . It became

1106-612: Is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France , which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It largely corresponds with the modern administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and includes the departments of Var , Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence , as well as parts of Alpes-Maritimes and Vaucluse . The largest city of

1185-492: Is so rocky that you cannot plant anything without striking stones. The men compensate for the lack of wheat by hunting... They climb the mountains like goats." They were also warlike; they invaded Italy and went as far as Rome in the 4th century BC, and they later aided the passage of Hannibal , on his way to attack Rome (218 BC). Traces of the Ligures remain today in the dolmens and other megaliths found in eastern Provence, in

1264-457: The Greek colony and later Roman Civitas of Massalia , its location between the Spanish provinces and Rome, and its financial output. The province of Gallia Transalpina ("Transalpine Gaul") was later renamed Gallia Narbonensis , after its newly established capital of Colonia Narbo Martius (colloquially known as Narbo, at the location of the modern Narbonne ), a Roman colony founded on

1343-673: The Grotte du Vallonnet near Roquebrune-Cap-Martin , between Monaco and Menton . More sophisticated tools, worked on both sides of the stone and dating to 600,000 BC, were found in the Cave of Escale at Saint-Estève-Janson ; tools from 400,000 BC and some of the first fireplaces in Europe were found at Terra Amata in Nice. Tools dating to the Middle Paleolithic (300,000 BC) and Upper Paleolithic (30,000–10,000 BC) were discovered in

1422-886: The House of Orange-Nassau of the Netherlands, who inherited it in 1544 and which was not incorporated into France until 1673. An army of the Catholic League laid siege to the Protestant city of Mėnerbes in the Vaucluse between 1573 and 1578. The wars did not stop until the end of the 16th century, with the consolidation of power in Provence by the Bourbon kings. The semi-independent Parliament of Provence in Aix and some of

1501-820: The Vaucluse ; the Cavares in the Comtat; and the Salyens, from the Rhône river to the Var. The tribes began to trade their local products, iron, silver, alabaster, marble, gold, resin, wax, honey and cheese; with their neighbours, first by trading routes along the Rhône river, and later Etruscan traders visited the coast. Etruscan amphorae from the 7th and 6th centuries BC have been found in Marseille, Cassis, and in hilltop oppida in

1580-684: The Visigothic Kingdom between AD 462 and 477, permanently ending Roman political control. After the Gothic takeover, the Visigothic dominions were to be generally known as Septimania , while to the east of the lower Rhone the term Provence came into use. (This list is based on A.L.F. Rivet, Gallia Narbonensis (London: Batsford, 1988), pp. 79, 86f.) 44°00′00″N 4°00′00″E  /  44.0000°N 4.0000°E  / 44.0000; 4.0000 Provence Provence

1659-525: The comte de Mirabeau and figures of the far left such as the Marquis de Sade ; there was also the military figure Charles Barbaroux and the theorist Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès (1748–1836), who instigated the coup of 18 Brumaire which brought Napoleon to power. The revolutionary anthem La Marseillaise despite its origins on the Rhine got its name because revolutionary volunteers from Marseille sang it on

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1738-514: The 12th century, three Cistercian monasteries were built in remote parts of Provence, far from the political intrigues of the cities. Sénanque Abbey was the first, established in the Luberon between 1148 and 1178. Thoronet Abbey was founded in a remote valley near Draguignan in 1160. Silvacane Abbey , on the Durance river at La Roque-d'Anthéron , was founded in 1175. In the 13th century,

1817-518: The 5th century, Roman power in Provence had vanished, and an age of invasions, wars, and chaos began. There are many legends about the earliest Christians in Provence, but they are difficult to verify. It is documented that there were organised churches and bishops in the Roman towns of Provence as early as the 3rd and 4th centuries; in Arles in 254; Marseille in 314; Orange , Vaison and Apt in 314; Cavaillon , Digne , Embrun , Gap , and Fréjus at

1896-579: The Alps. Aix Cathedral was built on the site of the old Roman forum, and then rebuilt in the Gothic style in the 13th and 14th centuries. The Church of St. Trophime in Arles was a landmark of Romanesque architecture, built between the 12th and the 15th centuries. A vast fortress-like monastery, Montmajour Abbey , was built on an island just north of Arles and became a major destination for medieval pilgrims. In

1975-709: The British fleet, but five to eight hundred of the 7,000 who remained were shot on the Champ de Mars, and Toulon was renamed "Port la Montagne". The fall of the Montagnards in July 1794 was followed by a new White Terror aimed at the revolutionaries. Calm was not restored until the rise of the Directory to power in 1795. Provence produced some memorable figures in the French Revolution ; both moderates such as

2054-660: The Catalan Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona , who as a result became Raymond Berenguer I, Count of Provence. He ruled Provence from 1112 until 1131, and his descendants, the Catalan counts, ruled in Provence until 1246. In 1125, Provence was divided; the part of Provence north and west of the Durance river went to the Count of Toulouse , while the lands between the Durance and the Mediterranean, and from

2133-670: The Coast of Provence in the early 7th century. During the late 7th and the early 8th centuries, Provence was formally subject to the Frankish kings of the Merovingian dynasty , but it was in fact ruled by its own regional nobility of Gallo-Roman stock, which ruled themselves according to Roman, not Frankish, law. Actually, the region enjoyed more prestige than the northern Franks had, but the local aristocracy feared Charles Martel 's expansionist ambitions. In 737, Charles Martel headed down

2212-760: The First Transalpine War (125–121 BCE), the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus (later additionally named Allobrogicus) campaigned in the area and defeated the Allobroges and the Arverni under king Bituitus in the Battle of the Isère River . This defeat substantially weakened the Arverni and ensured the further security of Gallia Narbonensis. The area became a Roman province in 121 BCE. The province had come into Roman control originally under

2291-610: The French kings started to use marriage to extend their influence into the south of France. One son of King Louis VIII "the Lion", Alphonse, Count of Poitou , married the heiress of the Count of Toulouse, Joan . Another, Louis IX "the Saint" of France or Saint Louis (1214–1270), married Marguerite of Provence . Then, in 1246, Charles, Count of Anjou , the youngest son of Louis VIII, married

2370-628: The Latin name oppidum . Today the traces of 165 oppida are found in the Var, and as many as 285 in the Alpes-Maritimes. They worshipped various aspects of nature, establishing sacred woods at Sainte-Baume and Gemenos, and healing springs at Glanum and Vernègues. Later, in the 5th and 4th centuries BC, the different tribes formed confederations; the Voconces in the area from the Isère to

2449-534: The Ligurians, living in proximity to numerous Celtic mountain tribes, were a different people ( ἑτεροεθνεῖς ), but "were similar to the Celts in their modes of life". They did not have their own alphabet, but their language remains in place names in Provence ending in the suffixes - asc , - osc , - inc , - ates , and - auni . The ancient geographer Posidonius wrote of them: "Their country is savage and dry. The soil

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2528-551: The Observatory Cave, in the Jardin Exotique of Monaco . The Paleolithic period in Provence saw great changes in the climate. Two ice ages came and went, and the sea level changed dramatically. At the beginning of the Paleolithic, the sea level in western Provence was 150 meters higher than today. By the end of the Paleolithic, it had dropped to 100 to 150 metres below the sea level today. The cave dwellings of

2607-566: The Piedmont in Italy. By the end of the 18th century, Marseille had a population of 120,000 people, making it the third largest city in France. Most of Provence, with the exception of Marseille, Aix and Avignon, was rural, conservative and largely royalist, and the Revolution was as violent and bloody in Provence as it was in other parts of France. On 30 April 1790, Fort Saint-Nicolas in Marseille

2686-633: The Pope. In 1545, the Parlement of Aix-en-Provence ordered the destruction of the villages of Lourmarin, Mérindol, Cabriéres in the Luberon, because their inhabitants were Vaudois , of Italian Piedmontese origin, and were not considered sufficiently orthodox Catholics. Most of Provence remained strongly Catholic, though Protestants controlled the Principality of Orange , an enclave ruled by William of

2765-401: The Rhône Valley after subduing Burgundy. He attacked Avignon and Arles , garrisoned by the Umayyads , and came back in 739 to capture for a second time Avignon and chase the duke Maurontus to his stronghold of Marseille. The city was brought to heel and the duke had to flee to an island. The region was thereafter under the rule of Carolingian kings, descended from Charles Martel, and then

2844-402: The Rhône river to the Alps, belonged to the counts of Provence. The capital of Provence was moved from Arles to Aix-en-Provence , and later to Brignoles . Under the Catalan counts, the 12th century saw the construction of important cathedrals and abbeys in Provence, in a harmonious new style, the Romanesque , which united the Gallo-Roman style of the Rhône Valley with the Lombard style of

2923-431: The Romans built a crossroads that made Narbonne an optimal trading center, and Narbonne became a major trading competitor to Massalia. From Narbonne, the Romans established the province of Transalpine Gaul, later called Gallia Narbonensis. During the Sertorian War (80–72 BCE) against the breakaway state of former Roman senator and general Sertorius , Gallia Narbonensis was an important base for military activities. This

3002-543: The Romans suppressed Ligurian uprisings near Genoa; in 154 BC the Roman Consul Optimus defeated the Oxybii and the Deciates , who were attacking Antibes; and in 125 BC, the Romans put down an uprising of a confederation of Celtic tribes. After this battle, the Romans decided to establish permanent settlements in Provence. In 122 BC, next to the Celtic town of Entremont, the Romans built a new town, Aquae Sextiae , later called Aix-en-Provence . In 118 BC they founded Narbo ( Narbonne ). The Roman general Gaius Marius crushed

3081-409: The ancient world. At its height, in the 4th century BC, it had a population of about 6,000 inhabitants, living on about fifty hectares surrounded by a wall. It was governed as an aristocratic republic, by an assembly of the 600 wealthiest citizens. It had a large temple of the cult of Apollo of Delphi on a hilltop overlooking the port, and a temple of the cult of Artemis of Ephesus at the other end of

3160-408: The battle were baptised and enslaved, and the remaining Saracens in Provence fled the region. Meanwhile, dynastic quarrels continued. A war between Rudolph III of Burgundy and his rival, German emperor Conrad the Salic led in 1032 to Provence becoming a fiefdom of the Holy Roman Empire , which it remained until 1246. In 1112, the last descendant of Boson, Douce I, Countess of Provence , married

3239-434: The cities of Provence, particularly Marseille, continued to rebel against the authority of the Bourbon king. After uprisings in 1630–31 and 1648–1652, the young King Louis XIV had two large forts, fort St. Jean and Fort St. Nicholas, built at the harbour entrance to control the city's unruly population. At the beginning of the 17th century, Cardinal Richelieu began to build a naval arsenal and dockyard at Toulon to serve as

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3318-458: The city. The Drachma coins minted in Massalia were found in all parts of Ligurian-Celtic Gaul. Traders from Massalia ventured inland deep into France on the Rivers Durance and Rhône, and established overland trade routes deep into Gaul, and to Switzerland and Burgundy, and as far north as the Baltic Sea. They exported their own products; local wine, salted pork and fish, aromatic and medicinal plants, coral and cork. The Massalians also established

3397-414: The coast in 118 BC. The name Gallia Narbonensis most likely originates in the Augustan era. Its first recorded use was in a census conducted by Gnaeus Pullius Pollio . The Romans had called it Provincia Nostra ("our province") or simply Provincia ("the province"). The term has survived in the modern name of Provence for the eastern part of the area (French Provence , Occitan Provença ), now

3476-448: The duke of Provence and the count of Vienne . Hugh moved the capital of Provence from Vienne to Arles and made Provence a fief of Rudolph II of Burgundy . In the 9th century, Arab pirates (called Saracens by the French) and then the Normans invaded Provence. The Normans pillaged the region and then left, but the Saracens built castles and began raiding towns and holding local residents for ransom. The conquering Arabs established

3555-410: The early inhabitants of Provence were regularly flooded by the rising sea or left far from the sea and swept away by erosion. The changes in the sea level led to one of the most remarkable discoveries of signs of early man in Provence. In 1985, a diver named Henri Cosquer discovered the mouth of a submarine cave 37 metres below the surface of the Calanque de Morgiou near Marseille. The entrance led to

3634-401: The emirate of Fraxinet in 887. Early in 973, the Saracens captured Maieul , the abbot of the monastery at Cluny , and held him for ransom. The ransom was paid and the abbot was released, but the people of Provence, led by Count William I , rose up and defeated the Saracens near their most powerful fortress ( La Garde-Freinet ) at the Battle of Tourtour . The Saracens who were not killed in

3713-409: The end of the 4th century; Aix-en-Provence in 408; Carpentras , Avignon , Riez , Cimiez (today part of Nice ) and Vence in 439; Antibes in 442; Toulon in 451; Senez in 406, Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux in 517; and Glandèves in 541. The oldest Christian structure still surviving in Provence is the baptistery of the Fréjus Cathedral , dating from the 5th century. At about the same time,

3792-452: The end of the reign of Louis XIV . The plague struck the region between 1720 and 1722, beginning in Marseille, killing some 40,000 people. Still, by the end of the century, many artisanal industries began to flourish; making perfumes in Grasse ; olive oil in Aix and the Alpilles ; textiles in Orange, Avignon and Tarascon; and faience pottery in Marseille, Apt, Aubagne , and Moustiers-Sainte-Marie . Many immigrants arrived from Liguria and

3871-534: The first pottery made in France. Around 6000 BC, a wave of new settlers from the east, the Chasséens , arrived in Provence. They were farmers and warriors, and gradually displaced the earlier pastoral people from their lands. They were followed about 2500 BC by another wave of people, also farmers, known as the Courronniens, who arrived by sea and settled along the coast of what is now the Bouches-du-Rhône. Traces of these early civilisations can be found in many parts of Provence. A Neolithic site dating to about 6,000 BC

3950-460: The first two monasteries in Provence were founded: Lérins Abbey , on the island of Saint-Honorat near Cannes, and Abbey of St Victor in Marseille. Beginning in the second half of the 5th century, as Roman power waned, successive waves of Germanic tribes entered Provence: first the Visigoths (480), then the Ostrogoths , then the Burgundians , finally, the Franks in the 6th century. Arab invaders and Berber pirates came from North Africa to

4029-497: The heiress of Provence, Beatrice . Provence's fortunes became tied to the Angevin Dynasty and the Kingdom of Naples. In 1309, Pope Clement V , who was originally from Bordeaux, moved the Papal Curia to Avignon, a period known as the Avignon Papacy . From 1309 until 1377, seven popes reigned in Avignon before the Schism between the Roman and Avignon churches, which led to the creation of rival popes in both places. After that, three antipopes reigned in Avignon until 1423, when

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4108-439: The inhabitants of Provence had to survive on rabbits , snails and wild sheep. In about 6000 BC, the Castelnovian people, living around Châteauneuf-les-Martigues , were among the first people in Europe to domesticate wild sheep, and to cease moving constantly from place to place. Once they settled in one place they were able to develop new industries. Inspired by pottery from the eastern Mediterranean, in about 6000 BC they created

4187-411: The last serious resistance in 102 BC by defeating the Cimbri and the Teutons . He then began building roads to facilitate troop movements and commerce between Rome, Spain and Northern Europe; one from the coast inland to Apt and Tarascon , and the other along the coast from Italy to Spain, passing through Fréjus and Aix-en-Provence. In 49 BC, Massalia had the misfortune to choose the wrong side in

4266-527: The last ten years of his life, from 1470 to 1480, and his political policies of territorial expansion were costly and unsuccessful. Provence benefitted from population growth and economic expansion, and René was a generous patron of the arts, sponsoring painters Nicolas Froment , Louis Bréa , and other masters. He also completed one of the finest castles in Provence at Tarascon , on the Rhône river. When René died in 1480, his title passed to his nephew Charles du Maine . One year later, in 1481, when Charles died,

4345-486: The local tribes, who were still armed with bronze weapons. One tribe, called the Segobriga , settled near modern-day Marseille. The Caturiges, Tricastins, and Cavares settled to the west of the Durance river. Celts and Ligurians spread throughout the area and the Celto-Ligures eventually shared the territory of Provence, each tribe in its own alpine valley or settlement along a river, each with its own king and dynasty. They built hilltop forts and settlements, later given

4424-414: The main river of Provence, the Rhodanos, today known as the Rhône. The first permanent Greek settlement was Massalia , established at modern-day Marseille in about 600 BC by colonists coming from Phocaea (now Foça , on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor ). A second wave of colonists arrived in about 540 BC, when Phocaea was destroyed by the Persians . Massalia became one of the major trading ports of

4503-416: The markets of Massalia. It was from the capital of Narbonne that Julius Caesar began his Gallic Wars . Caesar rebuilt Narbo and built the cities of Forum Julium and Arles . Julius Caesar also granted many communities in Gallia Narbonensis citizenship. In 49 BC, the city of Massalia sided with the Pompeians during the civil war . After the war ended, the city of Massalia lost all of its independence and

4582-415: The mid-17th century onwards, were successfully exported to England, Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. There was considerable commerce along the coast, and up and down the Rhône river. The cities: Marseille, Toulon , Avignon and Aix-en-Provence, saw the construction of boulevards and richly decorated private houses. At the beginning of the 18th century, Provence suffered from the economic malaise of

4661-456: The name County of Nice . The 15th century saw a series of wars between the kings of Aragon and the counts of Provence. In 1423 the army of Alphonse of Aragon captured Marseille, and in 1443 they captured Naples, and forced its ruler, King René I of Naples , to flee. He eventually settled in one of his remaining territories, Provence. History and legend has given René the title "Good King René of Provence", though he only lived in Provence in

4740-427: The name Gallia Transalpina (Transalpine Gaul), which distinguished it from Cisalpine Gaul on the near side of the Alps to Rome. In this strip of land, the Romans founded the town of Narbonne in 118 BC. At the same time, they built the Via Domitia , the first Roman road in Gaul, connecting Gaul to Hispania, and the Via Aquitania , which led toward the Atlantic through Tolosa (Toulouse) and Burdigala (Bordeaux). Thus,

4819-444: The papacy finally returned to Rome. Between 1334 and 1363 the old and new Papal Palaces of Avignon were built by Popes Benedict XII and Clement VI respectively; together the Palais des Papes was the largest Gothic palace in Europe. The 14th century was a terrible time in Provence, and all of Europe: the population of Provence had been about 400,000 people; the Black Death (1348–1350) killed fifteen thousand people in Arles, half

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4898-416: The population of the city, and greatly reduced the population of the whole region. The defeat of the French Army during the Hundred Years' War forced the cities of Provence to build walls and towers to defend themselves against armies of former soldiers who ravaged the countryside. The Angevin rulers of Provence also had a difficult time. An assembly of nobles, religious leaders, and town leaders of Provence

4977-839: The power struggle between Pompey and Julius Caesar . Pompey was defeated, and Massalia lost its territories and political influence. Roman veterans, in the meantime, populated two new towns, Arles and Fréjus, at the sites of older Greek settlements. In 8 BC the Emperor Augustus built a triumphal monument at La Turbie to commemorate the pacification of the region, and he began to Romanize Provence politically and culturally. Roman engineers and architects built monuments, theatres, baths, villas, fora, arenas and aqueducts , many of which still exist. (See Architecture of Provence .) Roman towns were built at Cavaillon ; Orange ; Arles ; Fréjus ; Glanum (outside Saint-Rémy-de-Provence ); Carpentras ; Vaison-la-Romaine ; Nîmes ; Vernègues ; Saint-Chamas and Cimiez (above Nice). The Roman province, which

5056-410: The primitive stone shelters called 'Bories' found in the Luberon and Comtat , and in the rock carvings in the Valley of Marvels near Mont Bégo in the Alpes-Maritimes, at an altitude of 2,000 meters. Between the 8th and 5th centuries BC, tribes of Celtic peoples, probably coming from Central Europe, also began moving into Provence. They had weapons made of iron, which allowed them to easily defeat

5135-478: The provinces Gallia Narbonensis and Gallia Aquitania into a new administrative unit called Dioecesis Viennensis (Diocese of Vienne) with the capital more to the north in Vienne . The new diocese's name was later changed to Dioecesis Septem Provinciarum (Diocese of the Seven Provinces), indicating that Diocletian had demoted the word "province" to mean a smaller subdivision than in traditional usage. Galla Narbonensis and surrounding areas were incorporated into

5214-414: The region and its modern-day capital is Marseille . The Romans made the region the first Roman province beyond the Alps and called it Provincia Romana , which evolved into the present name. Until 1481 it was ruled by the counts of Provence from their capital in Aix-en-Provence , then became a province of the kings of France . While it has been part of France for more than 500 years, it still retains

5293-417: The region. Traders from the island of Rhodes were visiting the coast of Provence in the 7th century BC. Rhodes pottery from that century has been found in Marseille, near Martigues and Istres, and at Mont Garou and Evenos near Toulon . The traders from Rhodes gave their names to the ancient town of Rhodanousia ( Ancient Greek : 'Ροδανουσίαν ) (now Trinquetaille , across the Rhône river from Arles), and to

5372-491: The selection of the provinces also helped in that the provincial populations were flush with Roman citizens who could be recruited for Caesar's campaigns. Caesar's position in Transalpine Gaul was annually reviewed by the senate. When the five year term expired, Caesar met with Pompey, Crassus, and others at the so-called Luca Conference where they renewed their political alliance and pushed through legislation to extend Caesar's Gallic commands in their entirety. The granting of

5451-419: The streets of Paris. Napoleon restored the belongings and power of the families of the Ancien Régime in Provence. The British fleet of Admiral Horatio Nelson blockaded Toulon, and almost all maritime commerce was stopped, causing hardship and poverty. When Napoleon was defeated, his fall was celebrated in Provence. When he escaped from Elba on 1 March 1815, and landed at Golfe-Juan , he detoured to avoid

5530-399: The title passed to Louis XI of France . Provence was legally incorporated into the French royal domain in 1486. Soon after Provence became part of France, it became involved in the Wars of Religion that swept the country in the 16th century. Between 1493 and 1501, many Jews were expelled from their homes and sought sanctuary in the region of Avignon, which was still under the direct rule of

5609-427: Was an important event in the Romanization of Narbonese Gaul, as it resulted in the Romans organizing the province. Control of the province, which bordered directly on Italia , gave the Roman state several advantages: control of the land route between Italy and the Iberian Peninsula ; a territorial buffer against Gallic attacks on Italy; and control of the lucrative trade routes of the Rhône valley between Gaul and

5688-810: Was besieged, and many of the soldiers inside were massacred. On 17 October 1791, a massacre of royalists and religious figures took place in the ice storage rooms ( glacières ) of the prison of the Palace of the Popes in Avignon. When the radical Montagnards seized power from the Girondins in May 1793, a real counter-revolution broke out in Avignon, Marseille and Toulon. A revolutionary army under General Carteaux recaptured Marseille in August 1793 and renamed it "City without

5767-459: Was called Gallia Narbonensis , for its capital, Narbo (modern Narbonne), extended from Italy to Spain, from the Alps to the Pyrenees . The Pax Romana in Provence lasted until the middle of the 3rd century. Germanic tribes invaded Provence in 257 and 275. At the beginning the 4th century, the court of Roman Emperor Constantine (ca. 272–337) was forced to take refuge in Arles. By the end of

5846-573: Was discovered in Marseille near the Saint-Charles railway station . and a dolmen from the Bronze Age (2500–900 BC) can be found near Draguignan . Between the 10th and 4th century BC, the Ligures were found in Provence from Massilia as far as modern Liguria . They were of uncertain origin; they may have been the descendants of the indigenous Neolithic peoples. According to Strabo ,

5925-552: Was fully subject to Roman rule. In 40 BC, during the Second Triumvirate , Lepidus was given responsibility for Narbonese Gaul (along with Hispania and Africa), while Mark Antony was given the balance of Gaul. After becoming Emperor , Augustus made Gallia Narbonensis a senatorial province governed by a proconsul . Emperor Diocletian 's administrative reorganization of the Empire in c.  AD 314 merged

6004-548: Was organised to resist the authority of Queen Joan I of Naples (1343–1382). She was murdered in 1382 by her cousin and heir, Charles of Durazzo , who started a new war, leading to the separation of Nice , Puget-Théniers and Barcelonnette from Provence in 1388, and their attachment to the County of Savoy . From 1388 up to 1526, the area acquired by the Savoy was known as Terres Neuves de Provence ; after 1526 it officially took on

6083-575: Was part of the empire of Charlemagne (742–814). In 879, after the death of the Carolingian ruler Charles the Bald , Boso of Provence (also known as Boson), his brother-in-law, broke away from the Carolingian kingdom of Louis III and was elected the first ruler of an independent state of Provence. Three different dynasties of counts ruled Provence during the Middle Ages, and Provence became

6162-452: Was the first scientist to describe drift ice and the midnight sun. Though he hoped to establish a sea trading route for tin from Cornwall , his trip was not a commercial success, and it was not repeated. The Massalians found it cheaper and simpler to trade with Northern Europe over land routes. In the 2nd century BC the people of Massalia appealed to Rome for help against the Ligures. Roman legions entered Provence three times; first in 181 BC

6241-480: Was the mathematician, astronomer and navigator Pytheas . Pytheas made mathematical instruments which allowed him to establish almost exactly the latitude of Marseille, and he was the first scientist to observe that the tides were connected with the phases of the moon. Between 330 and 320 BC he organised an expedition by ship into the Atlantic and as far north as England, and to visit Iceland , Shetland, and Norway. He

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