As There Was No Passage Into The Interior Of This Part Of Gaul, Except Either Through The Rhone Or This

Canal, the Marseillians, who were now masters of both, enriched themselves considerably, partly by the traffic they carried on, and

Partly by the duties they levied on all goods which were sent up the canal and the river. In the civil war between Pompey and Caesar, they took part with the former, who, in return, gave them all the territory on the western bank of the Rhone. Caesar, exasperated at their hostility towards him, and at their ingratitude (for he, on the conquest of Gaul, had enlarged their territories, and augmented their revenues), blocked up their port by sea and land, and soon obliged them to surrender. He stripped their arsenals of arms, and obliged them to deliver up all their ships, as well as deprived them of the colonies and towns that were under their dominion.

The Marseillians, in the pursuit of commerce, made several voyages to distant, and, till then, unknown parts of the world: of these, the voyage of Pytheas, the extent, direction, and discoveries of which we have already investigated, was the most remarkable and celebrated. Euthymenes, another Marseillian navigator, is said to have advanced to the south, beyond the line; but little credit seems due to the very imperfect accounts which we possess of his voyage. The Marseillians also planted several colonies on the coasts of Gaul, Italy, and Spain, viz. Nicaea, Antipolis (Antibes,) Telo Martius (Toulon,) &c.

Arelas (Arles) was also a place of some trade, and celebrated for its manufactures, especially its embroidery, and its curious and rich works in gold and silver. It was at this place that Caesar built, in the short period of thirty days, the twelve galleys which he used in blocking up the port of Marseilles; and he manned them with its inhabitants; - a proof, as Huet observes, that they were well versed in maritime affairs at this time.

Narbo Marcius (Narbonne) was founded by Marius: it soon became, according to Strabo and Diodorus Siculus, a place of very great trade. The British tin, besides other articles, was brought by land-carriage through the centre of Gaul, and exported, either from it or Marseilles, to the different countries on the Mediterranean. It derived great importance and wealth, from its being a convenient place of rest and refreshment for the Roman troops, as they passed from the Pyrennees to the Alps, or from the Alps to the Pyrennees. Its harbour was crowded with ships from Africa, Spain, Italy, &c.; but, in the latter ages of the Roman Empire, it fell into decay, principally in consequence of the course of the river being changed, so that it no longer ran through it. The Romans endeavoured to supply this misfortune, by cutting a canal to the sea, the traces and remains of which are still visible.

Lugdunum (Lyons), at the confluence of the Rhone and Arar, was founded by Manucius Plancus, after the death of Julius Caesar.

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