During the earlier and more important epochs of the architectural revolutions in that province, it formed an independent State, and was in advance, in art and literature, of its northern neighbours. In considering the history of its architecture, it is important that this should be kept clearly in view. We shall see, as we glance rapidly over the history of the Southern provinces, that, in most respects, the development of the civilisation of the South differs from that of the Northern kingdom, and that the growth of the architecture naturally follows the progress of the respective countries. The art of the South, although it reached maturity earlier than that of the North, was also the first to decay; and, as the Northern Franks spread their arms over the South, and bit by bit got possession of the land, so their noble and vigorous style of architecture accompanied them, and, to a great extent, superseded the older and more finished, but less expansive, styles of the southern provinces. But the country we are dealing with has a history which extends back for hundreds of years before the names of Gaul or France were heard of. This region has in all ages formed a centre for the reception of the culture and arts of the various nations of the Mediterranean, and from which these have again been radiated to the remoter countries of the West. Its reminiscences thus carry us back to the dawn of history, some three thousand years ago, when we find the coast in the hands of the Phœnician navigators, by whose commercial and naval activity it could not fail to be greatly influenced. To the Phœnicians succeeded the Greeks, who colonised the country, and infused into it that spirit of Grecian culture and art of which it was long the home. The Romans next took possession of the land, and, under their dominion, it became a favourite province, and was lavishly enriched with the productions of the magnificent architecture of the Empire.