Dilis
DILIS a place in Gallia on the coast between Massilia (Marseille) and Fossae Marianae (Foz-les-Martigues). The Maritime Itin. (Wess. p. 507) places Incarus (Carry) next to Massilia, then Dilis positio,8 M.P. from Incarus, and then Fossae 12 M. P. further. The edition of Wesseling makes it 20 from Dilis to Fossae; but three MSS. have 12. Walckenaer (Géog., &c. vol. 3. p. 122) supposes that the number 20 is derived from some Itinerary which omitted Dilis, and gave only the distance from Incarus to Fossae; which seems likely. The modern site may be Carro.
[G.L]Commune of Martigues, 5 km S-SW of that city, on the Mediterranean coast, near the hamlet of Laurons. Dilis is mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary. Surface finds include Roman coins and numerous pottery sherds. The remains of an aqueduct 2 km long with its canal carved in the rock and lined with concrete had attracted attention to the area, and in 1968 the ruins of a sizable group of Roman buildings were uncovered.
To the S, on the edge of the paved Roman road along the coast, is a large hall with a concrete floor. It opens to the E on an exedra, is surrounded by partially destroyed smaller rooms, and seems to belong to a large villa. To the N, near the beach, a larger group of buildings includes a bathing establishment; in its SE portion is a large rectangular edifice, consisting of two courtyards each containing a well, and a series of more or less similar rooms. Noteworthy are many fragments of amphorae of the so-called Spanish type, intended for salted foods, the handles of which often bear the manufacturer's mark (27 different stamps); also sigillated pottery, mostly with hemispherical lips, lightly sigillated vases of yellow clay for liquids, glass receptacles, two 1st c. lamps, bronze nails, and coins of the 1st-4th c. The buildings seem to have been constructed at the beginning of the Empire, then destroyed, perhaps by a fire, in the 3d c., and restored in the 4th c. with modifications, especially in the area of the baths.
BIBLIOGRAPHYI. Gilles, Les voies romaines et massiliennes dans le département des Bouches du Rhône (1884); “Informations,” Gallia 27,2 (1969).
A. DUMOULIN