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Sacred Grove of Massilia (Lucan's Pharsalia)
Near Massilia (Marseille), southern Gaul
France
Inactive (felled by Julius Caesar, 49 BC)
Historical / archaeological
- Location
- Near Massilia (Marseille), southern Gaul
- Coordinates
- ~43.30°N 5.37°E
- Age / Founded
- Pre-Roman (Celtic/Gaulish); destroyed 49 BC
- Status
- Inactive (felled by Julius Caesar, 49 BC)
- Deity & Religion
- Celtic/Gaulish (Druidic) deities
- Community & Guardians
- Gauls near Massilia
- Vernacular name
- Lucus (Gaulish nemeton)
- Record type
- Historical / archaeological
Cultural practices & uses
Druidic worship, blood sacrifice (per Lucan); felled during Caesar's siege
Plant species
Ancient untouched trees (literary)
Biome & fauna
Mediterranean Gaulish woodland
Threats & protection
Destroyed by deforestation (Caesar) — archetype of 'impious axeman'
Source
Leigh, 'Lucan's Caesar and the Sacred Grove', in Tesoriero (ed.) Lucan (OUP 2010), 167-205