Mesua
MESUAin Gallia Narbonensis, is described by Mela (2.5) as a hill surrounded by the sea almost on all sides, and it would be an island if it were not joined to the mainland by a narrow agger.The place is supposed to be Meseor Meze, on the border of the Étang de Tau, between Agdeand Montpellier.
[G.L]Pre-Roman settlement on the N bank of the Étang de Thau on a promontory almost entirely surrounded by water (Mel. 2.5.6). Soundings carried out on this little cape, on which was located a port active in antiquity, have revealed that it was occupied from the 6th c. B.C. to the Roman period.
Isolated finds made in the depths of the Thau basin, and in the wrecks which have been discovered there, testify to its frequent use by ancient shipping. It was through the small ports marking the N side of this basin (of which Mèze was the most important) that maritime commerce was connected with the great axis formed by the Via Domitiana, which crosses the territory of Mèze ca. 5 km N of the town. Numerous and important Gallo-Roman estates were situated between the Étang de Thau and the Via Domitiana.
BIBLIOGRAPHYCarte archéologique de la Gaule romaine, fasc. X, Hérault (1946) 17, nos. 44-45; “Informations,” Gallia 27 (1969) 396; 29 (1971) 384.
G. BARRUOL