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Short description

The Massaliote Epibatai, displaying a dolphin on their shields, are competent fighters both on land and at sea.

Description

The Epibatai are specialised marines who are trained to fight both at sea and on land. In the Massaliote navy, as elsewhere in the Greek world, their task was to operate the wooden planks (Hdt. IX, 98, 2; Schol. Ad. Thuc. IV, 12, 1 II. 3-4) and its evolved version, the “iron hand” for boarding enemy ships (Thuc. IV, 25, 4), while on land they would be used to raid weakly protected coastlines, villages, and forts (Herzogenrath-Amelung, p. 58). Phoenician Epibatai primarily fought with javelins and stones from a distance to reach their enemies across ships. Their equipment and tactics may have influenced the Phokaian and Massaliote marines (Zaccarini, Epibatai (2015), p. 214). The armament of Epibatai was likely not uniform since, according to Thucydides, some Peloponnesian Epibatai were selected for having Hoplite equipment, like linen cuirasses and aspis shields, implying others did not carry such armour (Thuc. VII, 1, 5). Just like the Hoplites, they were recruited from the well-off citizenry class of the polis. These Epibatai carry an Aspis shield displaying a dolphin, a Xiphos sword, and a sling into battle. They wear a light Linothorax as well as a Pilos helmet for protection.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Long before colonising the lands at the mouth of the Rhône, the Phokaians had focused on their seafaring capabilities, supporting themselves by means of fishing, trade, and piracy (Iust. 43, 3). Shortly after they founded Massalia in 600 BC, they won several naval battles against Carthage, the dominant maritime superpower in the western Mediterranean at the time (Paus. X, 18, 7, Thuk. I, 13). Most notably, in ca. 535 BC they won a pyrrhic victory at the battle of Alalia over a Carthaginian-Etruscan alliance that had twice the strength of the Phokaian fleet, though in the end they had to evacuate their colony on Corsica (Hdt. I, 166). Phokaians and Massaliotes founded several colonies along the Iberian, Southern Gallic and Ligurian coastline, among them Emporion, Hemeroskopeion, and Mainake in Iberia, Agathe Tyche in Languedoc, Nikaia on the Côte d’Azur and Antipolis on the Ligurian coast. Additionally, they used both the Rhône and the Durance to establish trade routes deep into Gallic and Celto-Ligurian territories. From the late 6th century onward, Massalia exerted influence throughout most of Gaul, mainly via trade, while relying heavily on imported wheat due to the “ruggedness” of its territory (Strab. IV, 1, 5).

The relationships with its Ligurian and Celtic neighbours were often mixed, but from the early 4th century tensions rose when the aggressive La-Tene-Culture replaced the more trade-oriented Hallstatt culture in the lands of the Celts. Strabo comments on the impressive defences of both Massalia and its colonies, erected against the “barbarian” threat, and on the “abundance of vessels, arms and machines, both for the purposes of navigation and for besieging towns” (Stab. IV, 1, 5). Some of these defences were directed at sea to protect their cities from Ligurian pirate incursions, especially during the 2nd century BC.

Consequently, Massalia increasingly relied on Roman military aid to deal with the barbarian tribes in its hinterland. In 181 BC, it appealed for Roman assistance against Ligurian pirates. The following campaign resulted in the deaths of around 15,000 Ligurians and the capture of 2,500 prisoners as well as 32 pirate ships (Liv. XL, 28, 6-7). After crushing the Salluvian coalition near Massaliote territory in 121 BC, Rome established the province of Gallia Narbonensis in 118 BC (Cic. Font. 5,13; Vell. Pat. I, 15, 5). Later, during the civil war between Pompey and Caesar, Massalia sided with the Senate, thereby provoking a lengthy siege by Caesar in 49 BC (Caes. Civ. 2, 22). The Massaliote fleet was defeated in two naval engagements and Massalia was finally overcome after a long fight. Yet, Caesar acknowledged its autonomy, and it remained a free city well into the imperial period (Strab. IV, 1, 5).