Today, we drove the 40 klms from Aix-en-Provence to visit Marseille... the place where southern European history first faced France. From 600 BC, Greece had been trading with the neolithic settlements around Marseille. We wanted more details on why this trade was sufficiently important to Greece for them to build a colony. What was being traded that couldn't be supplied from one of their existing colonies? How developed were the Gaul communities prior to Greek involvement? Was force used to maintain the trading relationship... the usual questions that beg answers when looking at dramatic events in history.
And what about the Romans? Why did Greece ask for their support to quell an uprising from the Gauls? Couldn't the mighty Greek military machine take care of a few Celts? How did the Romans elbow aside the Greeks from their colony? Did armies come to blows? Did Julius Caesar act honourably in his dealings with the Greeks? Marseille was the capital of the TransAlpine region... where were the aqueducts, theatres, public baths, etc.
Lots of questions... but after knocking on the doors of many museums... the answers just didn't surface. It appears that the good citizens of Marseille aren't all that thrilled by preserving their Greeko-Roman antiquity... they are having too much fun living in the present.
We all love visual tricks... where the eyes are telling you things you know can't be right. Marseille has the largest visual trick that I know of. The Maritime Museum takes up one side of a prominent square in downtown Marseille. The building has been covered with a giant cloth showing a print of another famous Marseille boulevard. It was fascinating watching the faces of people entering the square... initially accepting the visual information presented to them... then stopping for a closer look... then bursting into laughter when they identified how they had been tricked. How can you not like a city that goes to such lengths to play tricks on you.
This year Marseille has spent lots of money renovating its port area. The finishing decorations include placing a range of sculptures on the port-side... something like Sydney's 'Sculptures by the Sea'. You know the content... melting watches hanging out to dry... elephants on stilts... camels, hippos, cows in strange patterns.
We did the churches.... no shortage of churches... Notre Dame being very ornate... others lacking care over the last century. We did the main museums... that focussed on entertainment (3-D videos... comic videos recalling world events, etc) rather than displaying their collection of priceless treasures... we formed the view that Marseille had failed to collect and preserve its antiquity.
Marseille's population has Caucasians in the minority... perhaps 'dumbing down' history may have been an attempt to engage citizens whose first language may not be French.
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