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OLVIA (Ancient city) FRANCE
Olbia (Olbia: Eth. Olbiopolites, and Olbianos). Stephanus (s. v. Olbia)
speaks of one city of this name as a Ligurian city, by which he means the Olbia
on the Ligurian coast of Gallia; for the name Olbia appears to be Greek. Mela
(ii. 5), who proceeds from east to west in enumerating the cities on the Mediterranean
coast of Gallia, places Olbia between Forum Julii (Frejus) and Massilia (Marseille).
The order of place is this: Forum Julii, Athenopolis, Olbia, Taurois, Citharistes,
Massilia. Strabo (iv. p. 184), who proceeds from west to east in his enumeration
of the cities of this coast, mentions Massilia, Tauroentium, Olbia, and Antipolis,
and Nicaea. He adds that the port of Augustus, which they call Forum Julii, is
between Olbia and Antipolis (Antibes). The Massaliots built Olbia, with the other
places on this coast, as a defence against the Salyes and the Ligures of the Alps.
(Strab. p. 180.) Ptolemy (ii. 10. § 8) places Olbia between the promontory Citharistes
(Cap Cicier) and the mouth of the river Argenteus (Argents), west of Frejus. There
is nothing that fixes the site of Olbia with precision; and we must accept D'Anville's
conjecture that Olbia was at a place now called Eoube, between Cap Combe and Breganson.
Forbiger accepts the conjecture that Olbia was at St. Tropez, which he supports
by saying that Strabo places Olbia 600 stadia from Massilia; but Strabo places
Forum Julii 600 stadia from Massilia.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Olbia ("the Fortunate") is located near Hyeres, 65 km from
Marseille. According to ancient authors (Pseudo-Skymnos 215; Strab. 4.1.5 and
4.1.9; Ptol. 239.1; Steph. Byz. s.v.), it was one of four large fortified settlements
established by Massilia on the Mediterranean coast E of the Rhone. Like Tauroention,
Antipolis, and Nikaia, it was intended to contain the ascendancy of the Celto-Ligurian
tribes of the confederation of the Salyes. It was founded at the end of the 4th
c. B.C. and may have been taken by the Romans at the time of the siege of Marseille
(49 B.C.). Later it was included within a larger built-up area. It is impossible,
however, to affirm with certitude that this was the Pomponia mentioned by the
Maritime Itinerary and by Pliny. The occupation seems to have lasted until the
Early Christian period. In the Middle Ages the site was occupied by a monastery
(12th to 15th c.).
The location of Olbia, for a long time not known for certain, was
determined by the discovery on the site of a dedication to the Genius Viciniae
Castellanae Olbiensium. Excavations have reconstructed the general features of
the Greek settlement. The founding of Olbia is well dated stratigraphically to
ca. 330-300 (there are no sherds earlier than the 4th c. B.C. and Etrusco-Campanian
black-finish ware predominated). These years correspond to the economic renascence
of Marseille. At this time the town was provided with a strong cyclopean rampart
of large polygonal stones. This was later replaced, or perhaps supplemented, by
a second enceinte of large ashlar (2d c. B.C.). From the beginning the town was
organized according to a rigorous orthogonal plan: the ramparts form a square,
160 m on each side; the S flank is next to the seashore. It was defended by square
towers (which are still in place on the N and W sides). The wall was pierced by
gates of which the main one, to the E, led to the port.
The urban area was divided into quarters by two wide streets, one
E-W 5 m wide, the other N-S 4 m wide. Streets parallel to these axes and 2.20
m wide delimited rectangular blocks 11 m wide (in other words, exactly five times
the width of the streets). There are 36 blocks of dwellings in all, divided into
nine series of four blocks each. The location corresponding to a last series along
the W sector of the ramparts was reserved for a group of buildings arranged around
an interior courtyard. It has only been partially cleared, but it may be supposed
to be public, and probably religious, in character.
The blocks of dwellings and the streets include several Hellenistic
levels. These more or less preserved the original city plan. There are many shops
and private houses, carefully built of small ashlar, an intricate network of streets,
a large square-sectioned well built in opus quadratum with sharp corners. But
the most interesting building is a square monument, 5 m on each side, which leans
directly on the N flank of the oldest rampart. Its nature has been revealed by
a building block bearing the name of the goddess APHRODITES. Under the lowest
floor there appeared well-aligned piles of terracotta cups, bases uppermost. Nearby,
three lead plates were found which carry the inscriptions LVNAE, MERCVRIO, VENERI.
A stone encased in a wall of the same block carries another Greek inscription:
EROS. It follows that this block is religious in function. Curiously, it contains
installations which show that it was also used for crafts: rooms, basins, water
channels. (Could purple have been manufactured under the patronage of the goddess?)
Also to be noted is the inscription METRON, of the 3d or 4th c. B.C., found on
a milestone at the E gate.
The Roman stratum is placed on top of a destruction level dating to
about the middle of the 1st c. B.C. The new built-up area overflowed the original
enclosure and extended beyond the ramparts. The most important monument is a complete
set of baths. Other remains have been noted at various localities, notably those
of port installations on the modern beach of l'Almanarre.
Of the mediaeval level, remains can be seen of a chapel with an apse,
a church and its sacristy, and a cemetery.
C. Goudineau, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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