page_title: Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul / Legacy
context_page_description: The Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul have a significant history of settlement, trade, cultural influence, and armed conflict in the Celtic territory of Gaul, starting from the 6th century BC during the Greek Archaic period. Following the founding of the major trading post of Massalia in 600 BC by the Phocaeans at present day Marseille, Massalians had a complex history of interaction with peoples of the region.
context_section_description: Overland trade with Celtic countries beyond the Mediterranean region declined around 500 BC, in conjunction with the troubles following the end of the Halstatt civilization. The site of Mont Lassois was abandoned around that time.
  The Greek colony of Massalia remained active in the following centuries. Around 325 BC, Pytheas (Ancient Greek Πυθέας ὁ Μασσαλιώτης) made a voyage of exploration to northwestern Europe as far as the Arctic Circle from his city of Marseilles. His discoveries contributed to the elaboration of the ancient world maps of Dicaearchus, Timaeus and Eratosthenes, and to the development of the parallels of latitude.
  The La Tène style, based on floral ornamentation, in contrast to the geometric styles of Early Iron Age Europe, can be traced to an imaginative  re-interpretation of motifs on imported objects of Greek or Etruscan origin.
  During his conquest of Gaul, Caesar reported that the Helvetii were in possession of documents in the Greek script, and all Gaulish coins used the Greek script until about 50 BC.
caption: Tablet with Gallo-Greek inscription found south of Nîmes (Musée Calvet, Avignon)
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