Salyens

The Salyens or Salluviens (sometimes also spelled Salliens ; in Latin Salluvii ) is a federation of people of midday of the France, which brought together the inhabitants of the Rhone delta, of part of the Vaucluse, Var and Alp-of-High-Provence at the end of the Protohistoire.

This “alliance” included/understood the Gaulois established between the river Var, the Luberon and the the Rhone. It constituted probably the most important entity of Provence at second century BC, until the Roman conquest of the Narbonnaise (towards -120).

Entremont, the “city” of Salyens

The “capital”, or principal “city”, of Salyens was probably the Oppidum of Entremont (see), located at 367 meters of altitude on the southernmost edge of the plate which dominates Aix-en-Provence in north and is inclined soft inclined to the valley of the Durance.

Excavated on several occasions since 1946, the site - whose current name is medieval (Latin Intermontes ) - revealed many testimonys of the aristocratic culture of Salyens, but also of their economy and their organization, testimonys which largely contributed to the redécouverte of Gallic of midday by the Archéologie during second half of the 20th century.

Among the contributions of Entremont to the knowledge of the protohistoire of Provence, it is thus necessary to quote a relatively rich statuary, in particular including “warriors sitting”, and in whom one could see the object of a worship of héroïsés ancestors. Elements of gantries attest the existence of a worship of the heads (crossed), which recuts written testimonys of Diodore of Sicily. Lastly, of the traces of polychromy, present on the statuary, were the first known for the Celtic world.

Formation and disappearance of the federation of Salyens

The federation of Salyens was formed probably only at the end of third century BC, starting from the meeting of the “Celto-Ligurians” of Provence around proto-urban centers, placed under the control either of a new aristocracy, or of a preexistent aristocracy whose capacity had been reinforced and concentrated. To explain this evolution, several assumptions were formulated, among which it is necessary to quote that of an effect of the tensions caused by the pressure of Marseilles.

The neighbors closest to Salyens, indeed, were the Massaliotes in the south (the Cavares and the Albiques occupied as for them the territories located at the north of Salyens).

The salyenne federation proved to be a “cumbersome” neighbor for Massaliotes: the latter had in addition based several establishments on the territory of Provence, which had caused many economic and undoubtedly cultural tensions, whose return to account the ancient authors (in particular Tite-Live and Strabon).

Initially, such tensions with the natives had involved several military interventions of the Greeks in the Marseilles back-country: those are attested by archeology, in particular through the violent destruction of sites like the oppidum of Arquet.

In any case, starting from -181, Marseilles started to call upon Rome to help it to put an end to plunderings natives and to defend its colonies.

Consequently, the Roman presence is established durably in Provence: it is finally this one which put an end to the independence of Salyens. The federation disappeared, indeed, under the blows of the consul Caius Sextius Calvinus, between -125 and -123, becoming thus the “first victim” of the Roman conquest.

After the catch of Entremont, in -123, the “city” of Salyens was probably rebuilt and occupied during a few tens of years. Sextius founded in same time the town of Aix-en-Provence (-122), precisely where it had established a garrison, with the foot of place-strong the salyenne and near a source of warm water.

The site of Entremont was still abandoned with the profit of the plain following a new violent destruction, which has occurred between -110 and -90; this one marks the terminus postquem site.

Strabon, about the year 15, evokes the Salyen people: … thus Let us advance starting from MASSILIA in the country ranging between the Alps and the Rhone. We find there initially Salyens whose territory measures 500 stages (that is to say 80 km) until the DRUENTIAS (the Durance). Then by the vat we pass to Cavaillon and we put the foot on the territory of the CAVARES .

List sites associated with Salyens

  • Valley of the Arc
    • Entremont, “city” (?) of Salyens (commune of Aix-en-Provence)
    • Roquepertuse, on the commune of Velaux (site traditionally associated with a sanctuary)
  • Alpilles
    • Glanum or Glanon , “city” of Glaniques (commune of Saint Remi of Provence)
  • Back-country of Marseilles
  • oppidum of the Bell (common of the Warp ends-Mirabeau)
  • oppidum of russet-red Baou (commune of Goat-Beautiful-Air)
  • Circumference of the pond of Berre
    • Martigues (district of the island), protohistoric “city” of Aviatiques
    • habitat of Saint-Pierre-the-Martigues
    • habitat protohistoric of Arquet
    • habitat protohistoric of Tamaris
    • site of Saint-Blaise (commune of Saint-Miter-the-ramparts)
  • Valley of the Verdon and high Provence
  • Laugh, “city” of the Riei (Alpes de Haute-Provence)
  • Western of the department of Var
    • oppidum of Courtine (Ollioules)
    • oppidum of Garou (Sanary)

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