# Massaliote Periplus

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Lost Phoenician merchant handbook

The **Massaliote Periplus** or **Massiliote Periplus** is a now-lost merchants' handbook, possibly dating from as early as the 6th century BC, describing the sea routes used by traders from [Phoenicia](/source/Phoenicia) and [Tartessus](/source/Tartessus) in their journeys around [Iron Age](/source/Iron_Age) [Europe](/source/Europe).

Historian [Adolf Schulten](/source/Adolf_Schulten) proposed it as a theoretical reconstruction of a sixth-century [BC](/source/BCE) [periplus](/source/Periplus), or sailing manual,[1][2][3] and believed it had been versified in the lines of the *[Ora Maritima](/source/Ora_Maritima)* (*The Maritime Shores*), preserved by the [Roman](/source/Roman_Empire) poet [Avienus](/source/Avienius), who wrote down parts of it much later, during the 4th century AD. Schulten dated it to the 6th century BC. It describes an account of a sea voyage from [Oestriminis](/source/Oestriminis), modern [Pointe du Raz](/source/Pointe_du_Raz), to [Greek colony](/source/Greek_colony) Massalia, modern [Marseille](/source/Marseille), along the western [Mediterranean](/source/Mediterranean),[4] made by Eutimenes of Masalia.[5]

It also describes seaways running northwards from [Cádiz](/source/C%C3%A1diz) in [Spain](/source/Spain) along the coast of [Atlantic Europe](/source/Atlantic_Europe) to [Brittany](/source/Brittany), [Ireland](/source/Ireland) and [Britain](/source/Great_Britain). The [Periplus](/source/Periplus) is the earliest work to describe the trade links between northern and southern Europe. That such a manual existed indicates the importance of these trade links. The trade in [tin](/source/Tin) and other raw materials from the British Isles southwards is attested by archaeological evidence from this period and earlier and the riches to be won probably attracted numerous adventurers to explore and exploit the Atlantic coasts.

[Pytheas](/source/Pytheas) of Massilia described a similar expedition in more detail a few centuries later, around 325 BC.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Barry Cunliffe](/source/Barry_Cunliffe), *Iron Age Britain*, [English Heritage](/source/English_Heritage), London, 1995, p 38. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7134-8839-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7134-8839-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** John Taylor, [*Albion: the earliest history*](https://www.academia.edu/26576329/Albion_the_earliest_history) (Dublin, 2016)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek: The Man Who Discovered Britain (2001), Walker & Co; [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8027-1393-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8027-1393-9) (2002 Penguin ed. with new post-script: [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-14-200254-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-14-200254-2))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Darvill, Timothy](/source/Timothy_Darvill) (2002). ["Avienus, Rufus Festus"](https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199534043.001.0001/acref-9780199534043-e-334?rskey=JolJPc&result=321). *The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology*. [Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press). Retrieved 28 February 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Álvarez, Jorge (3 May 2017). ["Himilcón, el cartaginés que navegó por el Atlántico hasta las Islas Británicas"](https://www.labrujulaverde.com/2017/05/himilcon-el-cartagines-que-navego-por-el-atlantico-hasta-las-islas-britanicas). *La Brújula Verde* (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 February 2025.

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