Background
By 58 B.C., Transalpine Gaul, or the Provincia, had been under Roman control for nearly a century. Roman involvement in the region stemmed from the long alliance between the Roman Empire and Massalia, an independent Greek city-state. Massalia, which is now the French city of Marseille, was a successful trading center on the Mediterranean. Established about 600 B.C. by colonists from Phocaea, an Ionian city, Massalia encouraged the development of a Mediterranean lifestyle along the southern coast of Transalpine Gaul. However, Massalia's success was not the result of military strength. Despite Massalia's dominant position in Mediterranean commerce, the city-state faced numerous difficulties with the neighboring Celto-Ligurian tribes.
Following Roman aid to Massalia in 125 B.C., the Romans established a military base at what is today Aix-en-Provence in France. From this tactical position, Roman forces were able to secure the region. By 121, the hostile forces of the Allobroges and Arvenians had been squelched. Rome annexed a huge area that extended from the Pyrenees to the lower Rhône, and from the Rhône valley to Lake Geneva. Rome allowed Massalia to retain its lands, but Massalia became a small enclave of Greek influence in a large Roman territory.
