176 
pliny's nattjeal history 
[Book III. 
other the Metapinian mouth ; the third and largest is called 
the Massiliotic\ There are some authors who state that there 
was formerly a town called Heraclea^ at the mouth of the 
E/hodanus or Ehone. 
Beyond this are the Canals^ leading out of the Ehone, a 
famous work of Caius Marius, and still distinguished by his 
name ; the Lake of Mastramela"*, the town of Maritima^ of the 
Avatici, and, above this, the Stony Plains^, memorable for the 
ville considers the " Lesser" Rhone to have been the " Spanish" month 
of the ancients. In consequence of the overflowings of this river there is 
great confusion upon this subject. 
1 This mouth of the Hhone was much used by the Massihans for the 
purposes of commerce with the interior of Graul, and the carriage of the 
suppHes of tin which they obtained thence. 
2 The manner in which PUny here expresses himself shows that he 
doubts the fact of such a place having even existed ; it is mentioned by 
none of the preceding geographers, and of those who followed him Stephen 
of Byzantium is the only one who notices it. An inscription was found 
however in the reign of Charles Y. of France, in which it was stated that 
Ataulphus, king of the Yisigoths, selected Heraclea as his place of resi- 
dence. On the faith of this inscription, Spon and Ducange have placed 
Heraclea at the modern Saint- Gifles, and other writers at Saint-Remy, 
where the inscription was found. Unfortunately, however, Messrs. Devic 
and Yaissette, in their "History of Languedoc," have proved that this 
inscription is of spmious origin. 
3 rpj^e " Fossae Marianse" are also mentioned by Ptolemy and Sohnus ; 
though they differ in the situation which they have respectively assigned 
them. They were formed by Marius when advancing to dispute the 
passage of the Rhone with the Cimbri, who had quitted Spain for the 
purpose of passing the Pyrenees and invadmg Italy, in the year B.C. 102. 
There is considerable difficulty in determining their position, but they 
are supposed to have commenced at the place now called the Camp of 
Marius, and to have terminated at the eastern mouth of the Rhone near 
the present Aries. 
^ Pliny is the first who mentions the name of this lake, though pre- 
vious writers had indicated its existence. Strabo informs us that above 
the mouth of the Rhone there is a large lake that communicates with the 
sea, and abounds in fish and oysters. Brotier and D'Anville identify it 
with the present lake of Martigues or of Berre. 
^ D'Anville takes this place to be the present town of Martigues ; Bro- 
tier thinks that it was situate on the spot now called Le Cap d'CEil, near 
the town of Saint- Chamas ; and Bouche, the historian of the Province, 
places it at Marignane, on the east side of the lake already mentioned. 
^ "Campi Lapidei," called by the natives at the present day "LaCrau;" 
probably from the same Celtic root as our word "Crags ;" though Bochart 
derives it from the Hebrew, ^schylus and Hyginus speak of this com- 
