Territory The Avatici dwelled near the
Étang de Berre, southwest of the
Saluvii, and possibly northwest of the
Tricores. Their territory stretched from the eastern part of the mouth of the
Rhône river to the west of
Massilia, and from the
Mediterranean Sea to the
Crau in the north. According to historian
Guy Barruol, they were part of the
Saluvian confederation.
Settlements Their chief town, located in the province of
Gallia Narbonensis, was known as . The location of the settlement is not precisely indicated by the sources, but most scholars place it in modern
Martigues, possibly at the site of Tholon, on the coast of the Étang de Berre. Ptolemy, and later the
Ravenna Cosmography, calls it a
Colonia, but this is likely an error since both Mela and Pliny (who used sources from the
Augustan period) refer to the settlement as an
oppidum in the 1st century AD. The lands situated around the Étang de Berre were probably given to
Arelate (
Arles) by the Romans when their subjugated
Massalia in 49 BC. Another oppidum was located at Mastromela or Mastramélē (Μαστραμέλη). It has been traditionally identified with the , although this has been criticized since the settlement is too far from the Étang de Berre (Stagnum Mastromela), after which it is named. Alternatively, archaeologist has proposed the , occupied from the mid-5th century BC until the end of the 2nd century BC, as the most probable location. == See also ==