The coast was visited by the Phœnicians, those first and adventurous merchants and navigators of the Levant, who pushed their commerce even as far as the shores of distant Britain. Carthage was one of the Tyrian Colonies, and so also was Cadiz, founded about 1100 B.C. The Phœnicians established many cities and ports on the coast, such as Illiberris, Narbonne, and Marseilles, and carried on a considerable trade with them. Some of these have entirely perished, while in the remainder only a few traces have been found of their Phœnician origin. The next navigators who explored the Riviera were the Greek colonists from Phocæa, itself a Grecian colony on the coast of Asia Minor, the inhabitants of which were forced to leave their country by the invasion of the Persians under Cyrus. These adventurers, after establishing themselves in Corsica, spread to other parts of the coast. They settled about 600 B.C., by treaty with the natives, at Massilia or Marseilles. Owing to its fine rock-sheltered harbour, and from its proximity to the mouth of the Rhone, which then formed the highway to the extensive and populous country lying to the northwards, this colony soon grew into a flourishing seaport. In course of time the Massiliotes became rich, and acquired extensive lands around their town. They also spread their canvas over the neighbouring seas, and established numerous colonies all along the coast, such as Narbonne, Antibes, Nice, Monaco, &c. The Phocæans brought with them from their native home, and introduced wherever they went, their Greek tongue, together with their Grecian culture and love of Art. The government of their towns was founded on the pattern of that of Phocæa, the people choosing a council of 600, a committee of whom formed the executive. They had also schools and colleges for the teaching of grammar and letters, and the encouragement of science and art. The language, civilisation, and culture of the whole of the Massiliote towns were thus entirely Greek, and gave a Grecian character to the first enlightenment of Southern Gaul; a circumstance which left a distinct trace in the artistic style of the country, even under the Empire, just as in Sicily and southern Italy, the settlement of the Greek colonists in those countries produced a similar result. The Massiliotes, being rivals of the Carthaginians as merchants and navigators, naturally took part with the Romans in their Punic wars, furnished them with ships, and became their allies. In 154 B.C. the Ligurian tribes of South Gaul rose against the Massiliote colonies, and the latter in their turn applied to their Roman allies for assistance. This formed the first introduction of the Roman Legions into Gaul. Other disputes with the native tribes arose, and in 123 B.C. C. Sextus Calvinus completed the subjugation of the Salyes, and founded the first Roman settlement in transalpine Gaul at Aquae Sextiae (now Aix), where he had found the warm springs attractive.