Along the north-western coast of the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Italy lies the ancient city of Massilia (modern Marseilles). Originally founded in 600 BCE by Ionian Greeks from Phocaea, the city would one day challenge the might of Carthage (defeating them in both the 5th and 6th centuries BCE) and dominate the region, establishing a number of colonies in southern Gaul during the 3rd and 4th centuries BCE. There is also some evidence that sailors from Massilia even travelled beyond the Pillars of Hercules through the Strait of Gibraltar onto the western coast of Africa.
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