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Origin and history

The Greco-Roman city of Olbia-Pomponiana, nicknamed "Olbia de Provence", was founded around 325 B.C. by Massaliot settlers (Marseille) on the present town of Hyères (Var). Its Greek name, Olbia ("the prosperous"), reflects its strategic role: protected commercial stopover on the maritime route between Massalia and Italy. Strabon and pseudo-Scymnos cite it among the Liguria colonies of Massalia. Organized as a colony-fortress, it housed about 720 inhabitants (soldiers, fishermen, farmers) in a 165 m square enclosure, divided into standardized islands. Its port, now submerged, provided shelter and repair to ships.

In Roman times, Olbia became the Vicus Pomponiana, mentioned by Pomponius Mela in 43 AD between Athenopolis (Saint Tropez) and Tauroentum (Le Lavandou). The name Pomponiana appears from the 2nd century in the Itinerary of Antonin, although the site also retains its Greek name: Étienne de Byzance still evokes Olbia ligystide in the 5th century. The city declined after the fall of Rome, before being definitively abandoned in the 7th century under Gontran I, due to the sensibility of the port and the increasing insecurity. The population then takes refuge on the heights.

The excavations, initiated in the 19th century and systematized by Jacques Coupry (1947–1971) and Michel Bats (1982–2008), revealed a rigorous urban planning: ramparts flanked by towers, identical islets of dwelling (3 lots of 120 m2 per family), and sanctuaries dedicated to Artemis (great sanctuary of the West) and Aphrodite (near the northern rampart). A deposit of 100 Massaliotic coins of the third century BC and a Latin inscription of the third century AD (Genio Viciniae Castellanae Olbiensium) confirm its connection with Massalia and its progressive romanization. The site, classified Historic Monument (1926, 1947, 1951), is now owned by the municipality of Hyères.

The recent countryside (2010-2025) exhumed a Roman thermal complex, cremation tombs (exterior necropolis), and traces of artisanal activities (pressor, opus signinum floor). The PCR Urban Shrines (since 2019), led by Réjane Roure, re-examined the shrines of Artemis and Aphrodite, left unfinished by Coupry. A preventive search in 2025, linked to the requalification of the D559 road, revealed 24 graves and a Roman wall in re-use, testifying to an artisanal occupation after the Greek period.

Olbia illustrates the cultural transition between the Greek and Roman worlds in Provence: founded as a Massaliot outpost, it becomes a Roman commercial relay before declining in the face of invasions and coastal erosion. Its orthogonal plan, ramparts, and sanctuaries make it a model of colonial urban planning, while monetary and epigraphic discoveries illuminate its exchanges with Massalia and Italy. The site, open to the public, is the subject of exhibitions such as "Bubbles and Blocks" (2023).

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