Provence (Provençal Occitan: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of southeastern France on the Mediterranean Sea adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The traditional region of Provence comprises the départements of Var, Vaucluse, and Bouches-du-Rhône and parts of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Alpes-Maritimes. Provence is so named because it was the first Roman province outside of Italy.

Prehistoric Provence

The Greeks in Provence

Other Greek settlements were established at Olbia (modern Saint-Pierre d l'Almanarre, near Hyeres); Antipolis (modern Antibes). The Greek traders ventured inland by rivers (the Durance and Rhone) deep into France, and overland to Switzerland and Burgundy. One enterprising Greek navigator, Pytheas, sailed from Marseille as far as Cornwall in England between 330 and 320 B.C. in search of tin.

The Ligures and Gauls in Provence

The Ligures, a Celtic people probably coming from Asia Minor, began to enter Provence in about the 4th Century B.C., and reached as far as Rome in 390 B.C. They established their own hilltop towns and forts throughout the region. Different tribes settled in different parts of Provence; the Cavates settled in the Vaucluse; the Oxybii and Deciates in the Var and Alpes-Maritimes; the Voconces in the Drome; and the Salyens in Lower Provence. The Ligures were gradually assimilated by another Celtic people, the Gauls, and they were soon in conflict with the people of Massalia. They aided the passage of Hannibal, on his way to attack Rome (sometime between 247 and 183 B.C.) while the people of Massalia looked upon Rome as a potential ally.

Roman Provence (2nd Century B.C. to 5th Century A.D.)

The Roman general Gaius Marius crushed the last serious resistance in 102 B.C. by defeating the Cimbri and the Teutons. He then began building roads to facilitate troop movements and commerce between Rome, Spain and Northern Europe; one from the coast inland to Apt and Tarascon, and the other along the coast from Italy to Spain, passing through Frejus and Aix-en-Provence.