# The Geography of Strabo/Book 4

WS Note: the sections can be linked, ex. The Geography of Strabo/Book 4 links to section 5 of Chapter III.
Chapters: I – II – III – IV – V – VI
GAUL.
SUMMARY.
CHAPTER I.
1. NEXT in order [after Iberia] comes Keltica beyond the Alps, the configuration and size of which has been already mentioned in a general manner; we are now to describe it more particularly. Some divide it into the three nations of the Aquitani, Belgæ, and Keltæ. Of these the Aquitani differ completely from the other nations, not only in their language but in their figure, which resembles more that of the Iberians than the Galatæ. The others are Galatæ in countenance, although they do not all speak the same language, but some make a slight difference in their speech; neither is their polity and mode of life exactly the same. These writers give the name of Aquitani and Keltæ to the dwellers near the Pyrenees, which are bounded by the Cevennes. For it has been “stated that this Keltica is bounded on the west by the mountains of the Pyrenees, which extend to either sea, both the Mediterranean and the ocean; on the past by the Rhine, which is parallel to the Pyrenees; on the north by the ocean, from the northern extremities of the Pyrenees to the mouths ​of the Rhine; on the south by the sea of Marseilles, and Narbonne, and by the Alps from Liguria to the sources of the Rhine. The Cevennes lie at right angles to the Pyrenees, and traverse the plains for about 2000 stadia, terminating in the middle near Lugdunum. They call those people Aquitani who inhabit the northern portions of the Pyrenees, and the Cevennes extending as far as the ocean, and bounded by the river Garonne; and Keltæ, those who dwell on the other side of the Garonne, towards the sea of Marseilles and Narbonne, and touching a portion of the Alpine chain. This is the division adopted by divus Cæsar in his Commentaries. But Augustus Cæsar, when dividing the country into four parts, united the Keltæ to the Narbonnaise; the Aquitani he preserved the same as Julius Cæsar, but added thereto fourteen other nations of those who dwelt between the Garonne and the river Loire, and dividing the rest into two parts, the one extending to the upper districts of the Rhine he made dependent upon Lugdunum, the other [he assigned] ​to the Belgæ. However, it is the duty of the Geographer to describe the physical divisions of each country, and those which result from diversity of nations, when they seem worthy of notice; as to the limits which princes, induced by a policy which circumstances dictate, have variously imposed, it will be sufficient for him to notice them summarily, leaving others to furnish particular details.
2. The whole of this country is irrigated by rivers descending from the Alps, the Cevennes, and the Pyrenees, some of which discharge themselves into the ocean, others into the Mediterranean. The districts through which they flow are mostly plains interspersed with hills, and having navigable streams. The course of these rivers is so happily disposed in relation to each other, that you may traffic from one sea to the other, carrying the merchandise only a small distance, and that easily, across the plains; but for the most part by the rivers, ascending some, and descending others. The Rhone is pre-eminent in this respect, both because it communicates with many other rivers, and also because it flows into the Mediterranean, which, as we have said, is superior to the ocean, and likewise passes through the richest provinces of Gaul. The whole of the Narbonnaise produces the same fruits as Italy. As we advance towards the north, and the mountains of the Cevennes, the plantations of the olive and fig disappear, but the others remain. Likewise the vine, as you proceed northward, does not easily mature its fruit. The entire of the remaining country produces in abundance corn, millet, acorns, and mast of all kinds. No part of it lies waste except that which is taken up in marshes and woods, and even this is inhabited. The cause of this, however, is rather a dense population than the industry of the inhabitants. For the women there are both very prolific and excellent nurses, while the men devote themselves rather to war than husbandry. However, their arms being now laid aside they are compelled to engage in agriculture. These remarks apply generally to the whole of Transalpine Keltica. We must now describe particularly each of the four divisions. ​which hitherto we have only mentioned in a summary manner. And, first, of the Narbonnaise.
3. The configuration of this country resembles a parallelogram, the western side of which is traced by the Pyrenees, the north by the Cevennes; as for the other two sides, the south is bounded by the sea between the Pyrenees and Marseilles, and the east partly by the Alps, and partly by a line drawn perpendicularly from these mountains to the foot of the Cevennes, which extend towards the Rhone, and form a right angle with the aforesaid perpendicular drawn from the Alps. To the southern side of this parallelogram we must add the sea-coast inhabited by the Massilienses and Salyes, as far as the country of the Ligurians, the confines of Italy, and the river Var. This river, as we have said before, is the boundary of the Narbonnaise and Italy. It is but small in summer, but in winter swells to a breadth of seven stadia. From thence the coast extends to the temple of the Pyrenæan Venus, which is the boundary between this province and Iberia. Some, however, assert that the spot where the Trophies of Pompey stand is the boundary between Iberia and Keltica. From thence to Narbonne is 63 miles; from Narbonne to Nemausus, 88; from Nemausus through Ugernum and Tarusco, to the hot waters called Sextiæ near Marseilles, 53; from thence to Antipolis and the river Var, 73; making in the total 277 miles. Some set down the distance from the temple of Venus to the Var at 2600 stadia; while others increase this number by 200 stadia; for there are different opinions as to these distances. As for the other road, which traverses the ​[countries of the] Vocontii and Cottius, from Nemausus to Ugernum and Tarusco, the route is common; from thence [it branches off in two directions], one through Druentia and Caballio, to the frontiers of the Vocontii and the commencement of the ascent of the Alps, which is 63 miles; the other is reckoned at 99 miles from the same point to the other extremity of the Vocontii, bordering on the state of Cottius, as far as the village of Ebrodunum. The distance is said to be the same by the route through the village of Brigantium, Scingomagus, and the passage of the Alps to Ocelum, which is the limit of the country of Cottius. However, it is considered to be Italy from Scingomagus. And Ocelum is 28 miles beyond this.
4. Marseilles, founded by the Phocæans, is built in a stony region. Its harbour lies beneath a rock, which is shaped like a theatre, and looks towards the south. It is well surrounded with walls, as well as the whole city, which is of considerable size. Within the citadel are placed the Ephesium and the temple of the Delphian Apollo. This latter temple is common to all the Ionians; the Ephesium is the temple consecrated to Diana of Ephesus. They say that when the Phocæans were about to quit their country, an oracle commanded them to take from Diana of Ephesus a conductor for their voyage. On arriving at Ephesus they therefore inquired how they might be able to obtain from the goddess what was enjoined them. The goddess appeared in a dream to Aristarcha, one of the most honourable women of the city, and commanded her to accompany the Phocæans, and to take with her a plan of the temple and statues. These things being performed, and the colony being settled, the Phocæans ​built a temple, and evinced their great respect for Aristarcha by making her priestess. All the colonies [sent out from Marseilles] hold this goddess in peculiar reverence, preserving both the shape of the image [of the goddess], and also every rite observed in the metropolis.
5. The Massilians live under a well-regulated aristocracy. They have a council composed of 600 persons called timuchi, who enjoy this dignity for life. Fifteen of these preside over the council, and have the management of current affairs; these fifteen are in their turn presided over by three of their number, in whom rests the principal authority; and these again by one. No one can become a timuchus who has not children, and who has not been a citizen for three generations. Their laws, which are the same as those of the Ionians, they expound in public. Their country abounds in olives and vines, but on account of its ruggedness the wheat is poor. Consequently they trust more to the resources of the sea than of the land, and avail themselves in preference of their excellent position for commerce. Nevertheless they have been enabled by the power of perseverance to take in some of the surrounding plains, and also to found cities: of this number are the cities they founded in Iberia as a rampart against the Iberians, in which they introduced the worship of Diana of Ephesus, as practised in their father-land, with the Grecian mode of sacrifice. In this number too are Rhoa [and] Agatha, [built for defence] against the barbarians dwelling around the river Rhone; also Tauroentium, Olbia, Antipolis and Nicæa, [built as a rampart] against the nation of the Salyes and the Ligurians who inhabit the Alps. They possess likewise dry docks and armouries. Formerly they had an abundance of vessels, arms, and machines, both for the purposes of navigation and for besieging towns; by means of which they defended themselves against the ​barbarians, and likewise obtained the alliance of the Romans, to whom they rendered many important services; the Romans in their turn assisting in their aggrandizement. Sextius, who defeated the Salyes, founded, not far from Marseilles, a city which was named after him and the hot waters, some of which they say have lost their heat. Here he established a Roman garrison, and drove from the sea-coast which leads from Marseilles to Italy the barbarians, whom the Massilians were not able to keep back entirely. However, all he accomplished by this was to compel the barbarians to keep at a distance of twelve stadia from those parts of the coast which possessed good harbours, and at a distance of eight stadia where it was rugged. The land which they thus abandoned, he presented to the Massilians. In their city are laid up heaps of booty taken in naval engagements against those who disputed the sea unjustly. Formerly they enjoyed singular good fortune, as well in other matters as also in their amity with the Romans. Of this [amity] we find numerous signs, amongst others the statue of Diana which the Romans dedicated on the Aventine mount, of the same figure as that of the Massilians. Their prosperity has in a great measure decayed since the war of Pompey against Cæsar, in which they sided with the vanquished party. Nevertheless some traces of their ancient industry may still be seen amongst the inhabitants, especially the making of engines of war and ship-building. Still as the surrounding barbarians, now that they are under the dominion of the Romans, become daily more civilized, and leave the occupation of war for the business of towns and agriculture, there is no longer the same attention paid by the inhabitants of Marseilles to these objects. The aspect of the city at the present day is a proof of this. For all those who profess to be men of taste, turn to the study of elocution and philosophy. Thus this city for some little time back has become a school for the barbarians, and has communicated to the Galatæ such a taste for ​Greek literature, that they even draw contracts on the Grecian model. While at the present day it so entices the noblest of the Romans, that those desirous of studying resort thither in preference to Athens. These the Galatæ observing, and being at leisure on account of the peace, readily devote themselves to similar pursuits, and that not merely individuals, but the public generally; professors of the arts and sciences, and likewise of medicine, being employed not only by private persons, but by towns for common instruction. Of the wisdom of the Massilians and the simplicity of their life, the following will not be thought an insignificant proof. The largest dowry amongst them consists of one hundred gold pieces, with five for dress, and five more for golden ornaments. More than this is not lawful. Cæsar and his successors treated with moderation the offences of which they were guilty during the war, in consideration of their former friendship; and have preserved to the state the right of governing according to its ancient laws. So that neither Marseilles nor the cities dependent on it are under submission to the governors sent [into the Narbonnaise]. So much for Marseilles.
6. The mountains of the Salyes incline gently from west to north in proportion as they retire from the sea. The coast runs west, and extending a short distance, about 100 stadia, from Marseilles, it begins to assume the character of a gulf at a considerable promontory near to certain stone quarries, and extending to the Aphrodisium, the headland which terminates the Pyrenees, forms the Galatic Gulf, which is also called the Gulf of Marseilles: it is double, for in its circuit Mount Setium stands out together with the island of Blascon, which is situated close to it, and separates the two gulfs. The larger of these is properly designated the Galatic Gulf, into which the Rhone discharges itself; the smaller is on the coast of Narbonne, and extends as far as the Pyrenees. Narbonne is situated above the ​outlets of the Aude and the lake of Narbonne. It is the principal commercial city on this coast. On the Rhone is Arelate, a city and emporium of considerable traffic. The distance between these two cities is nearly equal to that which separates them from the aforesaid promontories, namely, Narbonne from the Aphrodisium, and Arelate from the cape of Marseilles. There are other rivers besides which flow on either side of Narbonne, some from the Cevennes, others from the Pyrenees. Along these rivers are situated cities having but little commerce, and that in small vessels. The rivers which proceed from the Pyrenees, are the Tet and the Tech; two cities are built on them, which bear respectively the same name as the rivers. There is a lake near to Ruscino, and a little above the sea a marshy district full of salt-springs, which supplies “dug mullets,” for whoever digs two or three feet and plunges a trident into the muddy water, will be sure to take the fish, which are worthy of consideration on account of their size; they are nourished in the mud like eels. Such are the rivers which flow from the Pyrenees between Narbonne and the promontory on which is built the temple of Venus. On the other side of Narbonne the following rivers descend from the Cevennes into the sea. The Aude, the Orbe, and the Rauraris. On one of these is situated the strong city of Bætera, near to Narbonne; on the other Agatha, founded by the people of Marseilles.
7. Of one marvel of this sea-coast, namely the “dug mullets,” we have already spoken; we will now mention another, even more surprising. Between Marseilles and the outlets of the Rhone there is a circular plain, about 100 stadia distant ​from the sea, and about 100 stadia in diameter. It has received the name of the Stony Plain, from the circumstance of its being covered with stones the size of the fist, from beneath which an abundant herbage springs up for the pasturage of cattle. In the midst of it are water, salt-springs, and salt. The whole both of this district and that above it is exposed to the wind, but in this plain the black north, a violent and horrible wind, rages especially: for they say that sometimes the stones are swept and rolled along, and men hurled from their carriages and stripped both of their arms and garments by the force of the tempest. Aristotle tells us that these stones being cast up by the earthquakes designated brastai, and falling on the surface of the earth, roll into the hollow places of the districts; but Posidonius, that the place was formerly a lake, which being congealed during a violent agitation, became divided into numerous stones, like river pebbles or the stones by the sea-shore, which they resemble both as to smoothness, size, and appearance. Such are the causes assigned by these two [writers]; however, neither of their opinions is credible, for these stones could neither have thus accumulated of themselves, nor yet have been formed by congealed moisture, but necessarily from the fragments of large stones shattered by frequent convulsions. Æschylus having, however, learnt of the difficulty of accounting for it, or having been so informed by another, has explained it away as a myth. He makes Prometheus utter the following, whilst directing Hercules the road from the Caucasus to the Hesperides:
“There you will come to the undaunted army of the Ligurians, where, resistless though you be, sure am I you will not worst them in battle; for it is fated that there your darts shall fail you; nor will you be able to take up a stone from the ground, since the country consists of soft mould; but Jupiter, beholding your distress, will compassionate you, and overshadowing the earth with a cloud, he will cause it to hail round stones, which you hurling against the Ligurian army, will soon put them to flight!”
Posidonius asks, would it not have been better to have ​rained down these stones upon the Ligurians themselves, and thus have destroyed them all, than to make Hercules in need of so many stones? As for the number, they were necessary against so vast a multitude; so that in this respect the writer of the myth seems to me deserving of more credit than he who would refute it. Further, the poet, in describing it as fated, secures himself against such fault-finding. For if you dispute Providence and Destiny, you can find many similar things both in human affairs and nature, that you would suppose might be much better performed in this or that way; as for instance, that Egypt should have plenty of rain of its own, without being irrigated from the land of Ethiopia. That it would have been much better if Paris had suffered shipwreck on his voyage to Sparta, instead of expiating his offences after having carried off Helen, and having been the cause of so great destruction both amongst the Greeks and Barbarians. Euripides attributes this to Jupiter:
“Father Jupiter, willing evil to the Trojans and suffering to the Greeks, decreed such things.”
8. As to the mouths of the Rhone, Polybius asserts that there are but two, and blames Timæus for saying five. Artemidorus says that there are three. Afterwards Marius, observing that the mouth was becoming stopped up and difficult of entrance on account of the deposits of mud, caused a new channel to be dug, which received the greater part of the river into it. This he gave to the people of Marseilles in recompense for their services in the war against the Ambrones and Toygeni. This canal became to them a source of much revenue, as they levied a toll from all those who sailed up or down it: notwithstanding, the entrance [to the river] still continues difficult to navigate, on account of its great impetuosity, its deposits, and the [general] flatness of the country, so that in foul weather you cannot clearly discern the land ​even when quite close. On this account the people of Marseilles, who wished by all means to inhabit the country, set up towers as beacons; they have even erected a temple to Diana of Ephesus on a piece of the land, which the mouths of the rivers have formed into an island. Above the outlets of the Rhone is a salt-lake which they call Stomalimnè. It abounds in shell and other fish. There are some who enumerate this amongst the mouths of the Rhone, especially those who say that it has seven mouths. But in this they are quite mistaken; for there is a mountain between, which separates the lake from the river. Such then is the disposition and extent of the coast from the Pyrenees to Marseilles.
9. The [coast] which extends from this [last city] to the river Var, and the Ligurians who dwell near it, contains the Massilian cities of Tauroentium, Olbia, Antipolis, Nicæa, and the sea-port of Augustus Cæsar, called Forum Julium, which is situated between Olbia and Antipolis, and distant from Marseilles about 600 stadia. The Var is between Antipolis and Nicæa; distant from the one about 20 stadia, from the other about 60; so that according to the boundary now marked Nicæa belongs to Italy, although it is a city of the people of Marseilles, for they built these cities [as a defence] against the barbarians who dwelt higher up the country, in order to maintain the sea free, as the barbarians possessed the land. For this [region] is mountainous and fortified by nature, leaving however a considerable extent of plain country near Marseilles; but as you proceed towards the east the country is so hemmed in by the mountains, as scarcely to leave a sufficient road for passage by the sea-shore. The former districts are inhabited by the Salyes, the latter by the Ligurians, who border on Italy, of whom we shall speak afterwards. It should here be mentioned, that although Antipolis is situated in the Narbonnaise, and Nicæa in Italy, this latter is dependent on Marseilles, and forms part of that province; while ​Antipolis is ranked amongst the Italian cities, and freed from the government of the Marseillese by a judgment given against them.
10. Lying off this narrow pass along the coast, as you commence your journey from Marseilles, are the Stœchades islands. Three of these are considerable, and two small. They are cultivated by the people of Marseilles. Anciently they contained a garrison, placed here to defend them from the attacks of pirates, for they have good ports. After the Stœchades come [the islands of] Planasia and Lero, both of them inhabited. In Lero, which lies opposite to Antipolis, is a temple erected to the hero Lero. There are other small islands not worth mentioning, some of them before Marseilles, others before the rest of the coast which I have been describing. As to the harbours, those of the seaport [of Forum-Julium] and Marseilles are considerable, the others are but middling. Of this latter class is the port Oxybius, so named from the Oxybian Ligurians.—This concludes what we have to say of this coast.
11. The country above this is bounded principally by the surrounding mountains and rivers. Of these the Rhone is the most remarkable, being both the largest, and capable of being navigated farther than any of the others, and also receiving into it a greater number of tributaries; of these we must speak in order. Commencing at Marseilles, and proceeding to the country between the Alps and the Rhone, to the river Durance, dwell the Salyes for a space of 500 stadia. From thence you proceed in a ferry-boat to the city of Caballio; beyond this the whole country belongs to the Cavari as far as the junction of the Isère with the Rhone; it is here too that the Cevennes approach the Rhone. From the Durance to this point is a distance of 700 stadia. The Salyes occupy the plains and mountains above these. The Vocontii, Tricorii, Iconii, and Medylli, lie above the Cavari. Between the Durance and the Isère there are other rivers which flow ​from the Alps into the Rhone; two of these, after having flowed round the city of the Cavari, discharge themselves by a common outlet into the Rhone. The Sulgas, which is the third, mixes with the Rhone near the city of Vindalum, where Cnæus Ænobarbus in a decisive engagement routed many myriads of the Kelts. Between these are the cities of Avenio, Arausio, and Aëria, which latter, remarks Artemidorus, is rightly named aërial, being situated in a very lofty position. The whole of this country consists of plains abounding in pasturage, excepting on the route from Aëria to Avenio, where there are narrow defiles and woods to traverse. It was at the point where the river Isère and the Rhone unite near the Cevennes, that Quintus Fabius Maximus Æmilianus, with scarcely 30,000 men, cut to pieces 200,000 Kelts. Here he erected a white stone as a trophy, and two temples, one to Mars, and the other to Hercules. From the Isère to Vienne, the metropolis of the Allobroges, situated on the Rhone, the distance is 320 stadia. Lugdunum is a little above Vienne at the confluence of the Saone and the Rhone. The distance by land [from this latter city] to Lugdunum, passing through the country of the Allobroges, is about 200 stadia, and rather more by water. Formerly the Allobroges engaged in war, their armies consisting of many myriads; they now occupy themselves in cultivating the plains and valleys of the Alps. They dwell generally in villages, the most notable of them inhabiting Vienne, which was merely a village, although called the metropolis of their nation; they have now improved and embellished it as a city; it is situated on the Rhone. So full and rapid is the descent of this river from the Alps, that the flow of its waters through Lake Leman may be distinguished for many stadia. Having descended into the plains of the countries of the Allobroges, and Segusii, it falls into the Saone, near to Lugdunum, a city of the Segusii. The ​Saone rises in the Alps, and separates the Sequani, the Ædui, and the Lincasii. It afterwards receives the Doubs, a navigable river which rises in the same mountains, still however preserving its own name, and consisting of the two, mingles with the Rhone. The Rhone in like manner preserves its name, and flows on to Vienne. At their rise these three rivers flow towards the north, then in a westerly direction, afterwards uniting into one they take another turn and flow towards the south, and having received other rivers, they flow in this direction to the sea. Such is the country situated between the Alps and the Rhone.
12. The main part of the country on the other side of the Rhone is inhabited by the Volcæ, surnamed Arecomisci. Their naval station is Narbonne, which may justly be called the emporium of all Gaul, as it far surpasses every other in the multitude of those who resort to it. The Volcæ border on the Rhone, the Salyes and Cavari being opposite to them on the other side of the river. However, the name of the Cavari has so obtained, that all the barbarians inhabiting near now go by that designation; nay, even those who are no longer barbarians, but follow the Roman customs, both in their speech and mode of life, and some of those even who have adopted the Roman polity. Between the Arecomisci and the Pyrenees there are some other small and insignificant nations. Nemausus is the metropolis of the Arecomisci; though far inferior to Narbonne both as to its commerce, and the number of foreigners attracted thither, it surpasses that city in the number of its citizens; for it has under its dominion four and twenty different villages all well inhabited, and by the same people, who pay tribute; it likewise enjoys the rights of the Latin towns, so that in Nemausus you meet with Roman citizens who have obtained the honours of the ædile and quæstorship, wherefore this nation is not subject to the orders issued by the prætors from Rome. The city is situated on ​the road from Iberia to Italy; this road is very good in the summer, but muddy and overflowed by the rivers during winter and spring. Some of these streams are crossed in ferry-boats, and others by means of bridges constructed either of wood or stone. The inundations which destroy the roads are caused by the winter torrents, which sometimes pour down from the Alps even in summer-time after the melting of the snows. To perform the route before mentioned, the shortest way is, as we have said, across the territory of the Vocontii direct to the Alps; the other, along the coast of Marseilles and Liguria, is longer, although it offers an easier passage into Italy, as the mountains are lower. Nemausus is about 100 stadia distant from the Rhone, situated opposite to the small town of Tarascon, and about 720 stadia from Narbonne. The Tectosages, and certain others whom we shall mention afterwards, border on the range of the Cevennes, and inhabit its southern side as far as the promontory of the Volcæ. Respecting all the others we will speak hereafter.
13. But the Tectosages dwell near to the Pyrenees, bordering for a small space the northern side of the Cevennes; the land they inhabit is rich in gold. It appears that formerly they were so powerful and numerous, that dissensions having arisen amongst them, they drove a vast multitude of their number from their homes; and that these men associating with others of different nations took possession of Phrygia, next to Cappadocia, and the Paphlagonians. Of this those who are now called the Tectosages afford us proof, for [Phrygia contains] three nations, one of them dwelling near to the city of Ancyra, being called the Tectosages; the remaining two, the Trocmi and Tolistobogii. The resemblance these nations bear to the Tectosages is evidence of their having immigrated from Keltica, though we are unable to say from which district they came, as there does not appear to be any people at the present time bearing the name of Trocmi or Tolistobogii, who ​inhabit either beyond the Alps, the Alps themselves, or on this side the Alps. It would seem that continual emigration has drained them completely from their native country, a circumstance which has occurred to many other nations, as some say that the Brennus, who led an expedition to Delphi, was a leader of the Prausi; but we are unable to say where the Prausi formerly inhabited. It is said that the Tectosages took part in the expedition to Delphi, and that the treasures found in the city of Toulouse by the Roman general Cæpio formed a portion of the booty gained there, which was afterwards increased by offerings which the citizens made from their own property, and consecrated in order to conciliate the god. And that it was for daring to touch these that Cæpio terminated so miserably his existence, being driven from his country as a plunderer of the temples of the gods, and leaving behind him his daughters, who, as Timagenes informs us, having been wickedly violated, perished miserably. However, the account given by Posidonius is the more credible. He tells us that the wealth found in Toulouse amounted to somewhere about 15,000 talents, a part of which was hidden in the chapels, and the remainder in the sacred lakes, and that it was not coined [money], but gold and silver in bullion. But at this time the temple of Delphi was emptied of these treasures, having been pillaged by the Phocæans at the period of the Sacred war; and supposing any to have been left, it would have been distributed amongst many. Nor is it probable that the Tectosages returned home, since they came off miserably after leaving Delphi, and owing to their dissensions were scattered here and there throughout the country; there is much more likelihood in the statement made by Posidonius and many others, that the country abounding in gold, and the inhabitants being superstitious, and not living expensively, they hid their treasures in many different places, the lakes in particular affording them a hiding-place for depositing their gold and silver bullion. When the Romans obtained possession of the country they put both these lakes to public sale, and many of the purchasers found therein ​solid masses of silver. In Toulouse there was a sacred temple, held in great reverence by the inhabitants of the surrounding country, and on this account loaded with riches, inasmuch as there were many who offered gifts, and no one dared to touch them.
14. Toulouse is situated upon the narrowest part of the isthmus which separates the ocean from the sea of Narbonne; the breadth of the [isthmus], according to Posidonius, being less than 3000 stadia. The perfect similarity maintained throughout this country both in respect to its rivers, and to the exterior and interior sea, appears to us worthy of especial notice, as we have said before. This, on reflection, will prove to be one main cause of the excellence of this country, since the inhabitants are enabled mutually to communicate, and to procure from each other the necessaries of life; this is peculiarly the case at the present time, when on account of their leisure from war they are devoting themselves to agriculture and the pursuits of social life. In this we are persuaded that we behold the work of Providence; such a disposition of these regions not resulting from chance, but from the thought of some [intelligence]. The Rhone, for instance, is navigable to a considerable distance for vessels of heavy burden, which it is capable of transmitting through various districts of the country by means of other rivers which fall into it, and are likewise fitted for the navigation of large vessels. To the Rhone succeeds the Saone, and into this latter river falls the Doubs; thence the merchandise is carried by land to the river Seine; whence it is transported to the ocean and the [countries of the] Lexovii and Caleti, the distance thence to Britain being less than a day’s journey. The navigation of the Rhone being difficult on account of the rapidity of its current, the merchants prefer to transport in waggons certain of their wares, which are destined for the Arverni, and the river Loire, notwithstanding the vicinity of the Rhone in some places, but the road being level and the distance not far, (about 800 stadia,) they do not make use of water carriage on account of the ​facility of the transport by land, from thence the merchandise is easily conveyed by the Loire. This river flows from the Cevennes into the ocean. From Narbonne the voyage to the Aude is short, but the journey by land to the river Garonne longer, being as much as 700 or 800 stadia. The Garonne likewise flows into the ocean. Such is what we have to say concerning the inhabitants of the Narbonnaise, who were formerly named Kelts. In my opinion the celebrity of the Kelts induced the Grecians to confer that name on the whole of the Galatæ; the vicinity of the Massilians may also have had some thing to do with it.
CHAPTER II.
1. WE must now speak of the Aquitani and the fourteen Galatic nations pertaining to them, situated between the Garonne and the Loire, some of which extend to the river Rhone “and the plains of the Narbonnaise. Generally speaking, the Aquitani may be said to differ from the Galatic race, both as to form of body and language, resembling more nearly the Iberians. They are bounded by the Garonne, and dwell between this river and the Pyrenees. There are above twenty nations which bear the name of Aquitani, small and obscure, the major part of them dwelling by the ocean, and the remainder in the interior and by the extremities of the Cevennes, as far as the Tectosages. This district, however, being too small, they added to it the territory between the Garonne and the Loire. These rivers are nearly parallel with the Pyrenees, and form with them two parallelograms, bounded on the remaining sides by the ocean and the mountains of the Cevennes. Both of these rivers are navigable for a distance ​of about 2000 stadia. The Garonne, after being augmented by three other rivers discharges itself into the [ocean] between the [country] of the Bituriges, surnamed the Vivisci, and that of the Santoni; both of them Gallic nations.
The Bituriges are the only foreign people who dwell among the Aquitani without forming a part of them. Their emporium is Burdegala, situated on a creek formed by the outlets of the river. The Loire discharges itself between the Pictones and the Namnetæ. Formerly there was an emporium on this river named Corbilon, mentioned by Polybius when speaking of the fictions of Pytheas. “The Marseillese, [says he,] when interrogated by Scipio at their meeting, had nothing to tell about Britain worth mentioning, nor yet had the people of the Narbonnaise, nor those of Corbilon; notwithstanding these were the two principal cities of the district, Pytheas alone dared to forge so many lies [concerning that island].” Mediolanium is the capital of the Santoni. The part of Aquitaine next the ocean is for the most part sandy and meagre, producing millet, but barren of all other fruits. Here is the gulf which, with that on the coast of Narbonne, forms the isthmus. Both these gulfs go by the name of the Galatic gulf. The former gulf belongs to the Tarbelli. These people possess the richest gold mines; masses of gold as big as the fist can contain, and requiring hardly any purifying, ​being found in diggings scarcely beneath the surface of the earth, the remainder consisting of dust and lumps, which likewise require but little working. In the interior and mountainous parts [of Aquitaine] the soil is superior; for instance, in the district near the Pyrenees belonging to the Convenæ, which name signifies people assembled from different countries to dwell in one place. Here is the city of Lugdunum, and the hot springs of the Onesii, which are most excellent for drinking. The country of the Auscii likewise is fine.
2. The nations between the Garonne and the Loire annexed to the Aquitani, are the Elui, who commence at the Rhone. After these the Vellæi, who were formerly comprehended amongst the Arverni, but now form a people to themselves. After these Arverni come the Lemovices, and Petrocorii, and after them the Nitiobriges, the Cadurci, and the Bituriges, surnamed Cubi. Along the ocean we meet with the Santoni, and Pictones, the former dwelling by the Garonne, as we have stated, and the latter by the Loire. The Ruteni and the Gabales are in the vicinity of the Narbonnaise. The Petrocorii and Bituriges-Cubi possess excellent iron-works, the Cadurci linen-factories, and the Ruteni silver-mines: the Gabales likewise possess silver-mines. On certain amongst the Aquitani the Romans have conferred the rights of Latin cities; such for instance as the Auscii, and the Convenæ.
3. The Arverni are situated along the Loire. Nemossus, their metropolis, is built on the same river. This river having flowed past Genabum, an emporium of the Carnutes, situated about the middle of its course, discharges itself into the ocean. A great proof of the former power of the Arverni, is the fact of the frequent wars which they sustained against the Romans, ​sometimes with armies of 200,000 men, and sometimes with double that number, which was the amount of their force when they fought against divus Cæsar under the command of Vercingetorix. Before this they had brought 200,000 men against Maximus Æmilianus, and the same number against Domitius Ænobarbus. Their battles with Cæsar took place, one in Gergovia, a city of the Arverni situated on a lofty mountain, the birth-place of Vercingetorix; the other, near to Alesia, a city of the Mandubii, who border on the Arverni; this city is likewise situated on a high hill, surrounded by mountains, and between two rivers. Here the war was terminated by the capture of their leader. The battle with Maximus Æmilianus was fought near the confluence of the Isère and the Rhone, at the point where the mountains of the Cevennes approach the latter river. That with Domitius was fought lower down at the confluence of the Sulgas and the Rhone. The Arverni extended their dominion as far as Narbonne and the borders of Marseilles, and exercised authority over the nations as far as the Pyrenees, the ocean, and the Rhine. Luerius, the father of Bituitus who fought against Maximus and Domitius, is said to have been so distinguished by his riches and luxury, that to give a proof of his opulence to his friends, he caused himself to be dragged across a plain in a car, whilst he scattered gold and silver coin in every direction for those who followed him to gather up.
CHAPTER III.
1. NEXT in order after Aquitaine and the Narbonnaise, is that portion [of Gaul] extending as far as the Rhine from ​the river Loire, and the Rhone, where it passes by Lugdunum: in its descent from its source. The upper regions of this district from the sources of the Rhine and Rhone, nearly to the middle of the plains, pertain to Lugdunum; the remainder, with the regions next the ocean, is comprised in another division which belongs to the Belgæ. We will describe the two together.
2. Lugdunum itself, situated on a hill, at the confluence of the Saone and the Rhone, belongs to the Romans. It is the most populous city after Narbonne. It carries on a great commerce, and the Roman prefects here coin both gold and silver money. Before this city, at the confluence of the rivers, is situated the temple dedicated by all the Galatæ in common to Cæsar Augustus. The altar is splendid, and has inscribed on it the names of sixty people, and images of them, one for each, and also another great altar.
This is the principal city of the nation of the Segusiani who lie between the Rhone and the Doubs. The other nations who extend to the Rhine, are bounded in part by the Doubs, and in part by the Saone. These two rivers, as said before, descend from the Alps, and, falling into one stream, flow into the Rhone. There is likewise another river which has its sources in the Alps, and is named the Seine. It flows parallel with the Rhine, through a nation bearing the same name as itself, and so into the ocean. The Sequani are bounded on the east by the Rhine, and on the opposite side by the Saone. It is from them that the Romans procure the finest salted-pork. Between the Doubs and Saone dwells the nation of the Ædui, who possess the city of Cabyllinum, situated on the Saone and the fortress of Bibracte. The ​Ædui are said to be related to the Romans, and they were the first to enter into friendship and alliance with them. On the other side of the Saone dwell the Sequani, who have for long been at enmity with the Romans and Ædui, having frequently allied themselves with the Germans in their incursions into Italy. It was then that they proved their strength, for united to them the Germans were powerful, but when separated, weak. As for the Ædui, their alliance with the Romans naturally rendered them the enemies of the Sequani, but the enmity was increased by their contests concerning the river which divides them, each nation claiming the Saone exclusively for themselves, and likewise the tolls on vessels passing. However, at the present time, the whole of it is under the dominion of the Romans.
3. The first of all the nations dwelling on the Rhine are the Helvetii, amongst whom are the sources of that river in Mount Adula, which forms part of the Alps. From this mountain, but in an opposite direction, likewise proceeds the Adda, which flows towards Cisalpine Gaul, and fills lake Larius, near to which stands [the city of] Como; thence it discharges itself into the Po, of which we shall speak afterwards. The Rhine also flows into vast marshes and a great lake, which borders on the Rhæti and Vindelici, who dwell partly in the Alps, and partly beyond the Alps. Asinius says that the length of this river is 6000 stadia, but such is not the case, for taken in a straight line it does not much exceed half that length, and 1000 stadia is quite sufficient to allow for its sinuosities. In fact this river is so rapid that it is difficult to throw bridges across it, although after its descent from the mountains it is borne the remainder of the way through level plains; now how could it maintain its rapidity and vehemence, if in addition to this level channel, we suppose it also to have long and frequent tortuosities? Asinius ​likewise asserts that this river has two mouths, and blames those who say that it has more. This river and the Seine embrace within their tortuosities a certain extent of country, which however is not considerable. They both flow from south to north. Britain lies opposite to them; but nearest to the Rhine, from which you may see Kent, which is the most easterly part of the island. The Seine is a little further. It was here that divus Cæsar established a dock-yard when he sailed to Britain. The navigable portion of the Seine, commencing from the point where they receive the merchandise from the Saone, is of greater extent than the [navigable portions] of the Loire and Garonne. From Lugdunum to the Seine is [a distance of] 1000 stadia, and not twice this distance from the outlets of the Rhone to Lugdunum. They say that the Helvetii, though rich in gold, nevertheless devoted themselves to pillage on beholding the wealth of the Cimbri, [accumulated by that means;] and that two out of their three tribes perished entirely in their military expeditions. However, the multitude of descendants who sprang from this remainder was proved in their war with divus Cæsar, in which about 400,000 of their number were destroyed; the 8000 who survived the war, being spared by the conqueror, that their country might not be left desert, a prey to the neighbouring Germans.
4. After the Helvetii, the Sequani and Mediomatrici dwell along the Rhine, amongst whom are the Tribocchi, a German nation who emigrated from their country hither. Mount Jura, which is in the country of the Sequani, separates that people from the Helvetii. To the west, above the Helvetii and Sequani, dwell the Ædui and Lingones; the Leuci and a part of the Lingones dwelling above the Mediomatrici. The nations between the Loire and the Seine, and beyond the Rhone and the Saone, are situated to the north near to the ​Allobroges, and the parts about Lyons. The most celebrated amongst them are the Arverni and Carnutes, through both of whose territories the Loire flows before discharging itself into the ocean. The distance from the rivers of Keltica to Britain is 320 stadia; for departing in the evening with the ebb tide, you will arrive on the morrow at the island about the eighth hour. After the Mediomatrici and Tribocchi, the Treviri inhabit along the Rhine; in their country the Roman generals now engaged in the German war have constructed a bridge. Opposite this place on the other bank of the river dwelt the Ubii, whom Agrippa with their own consent brought over to this side the Rhine. The Nervii, another German nation, are contiguous to the Treviri; and last the Menapii, who inhabit either bank of the river near to its outlets; they dwell amongst marshes and forests, not lofty, but consisting of dense and thorny wood. Near to these dwell the Sicambri, who are likewise Germans. The country next the whole [eastern] bank is inhabited by the Suevi, who are also named Germans, but are superior both in power and number to the others, whom they drove out, and who have now taken refuge on this side the Rhine. Other tribes have sway in different places; they are successively a prey to the flames of war, the former inhabitants for the most part being destroyed.
5. The Senones, the Remi, the Atrebates, and the Eburones dwell west of the Treviri and Nervii. Close to the Menapii and near the sea are the Morini, the Bellovaci, the Ambiani, the Suessiones, and the Caleti, as far as the outlet ​of the river Seine. The countries of the Morini, the Atrebates, and the Eburones are similar to that of the Menapii. It consists of a forest filled with low trees; of great extent, but not near so large as writers have described it, viz. 4000 stadia. It is named Arduenna. In the event of warlike incursions the inhabitants would interweave the flexible brambly shrubs, thus stopping up the passages [into their country]. They also fixed stakes in various places, and then retreated with their whole families into the recesses of the forest, to small islands surrounded by marshes. During the rainy season these proved secure hiding-places, but in times of drought they were easily taken. However, at the present time all the nations on this side the Rhine dwell in peace under the dominion of the Romans. The Parisii dwell along the river Seine, and inhabit an island formed by the river; their city is Lucotocia. The Meldi and Lexovii border on the ocean. The most considerable, however, of all these nations are the Remi. Duricortora, their metropolis, is well populated, and is the residence of the Roman prefects.
CHAPTER IV. GAUL. THE BELGÆ.
1. AFTER the nations mentioned come those of the Belgæ, who dwell next the ocean. Of their number are the Veneti, who fought a naval battle with Cæsar. They had prepared to resist his passage into Britain, being possessed of the commerce [of that island] themselves. But Cæsar easily gained the victory, not however by means of his beaks, (for their ​ships were constructed of solid wood,) but whenever their ships were borne near to his by the wind, the Romans rent the sails by means of scythes fixed on long handles: for the sails [of their ships] are made of leather to resist the violence of the winds, and managed by chains instead of cables. They construct their vessels with broad bottoms and high poops and prows, on account of the tides. They are built of the wood of the oak, of which there is abundance. On this account, instead of fitting the planks close together, they leave interstices between them; these they fill with sea-weed to prevent the wood from drying up in dock for want of moisture; for the sea-weed is damp by nature, but the oak dry and arid. In my opinion these Veneti were the founders of the Veneti in the Adriatic, for almost all the other Keltic nations in Italy have passed over from the country beyond the Alps, as for instance, the Boii and Senones. They are said to be Paphlagonians merely on account of a similarity of name. However, I do not maintain my opinion positively; for in these matters probability is quite sufficient. The Osismii are the people whom Pytheas calls Ostimii; they dwell on a promontory which projects considerably into the ocean, but not so far as Pytheas and those who follow him assert. As for the nations between the Seine and the Loire, some are contiguous to the Sequani, others to the Arverni.
2. The entire race which now goes by the name of Gallic, or Galatic, is warlike, passionate, and always ready for fighting, but otherwise simple and not malicious. If irritated, they rush in crowds to the conflict, openly and without any circumspection; and thus are easily vanquished by those who employ stratagem. For any one may exasperate them when, where, and under whatever pretext he pleases; he will ​ways find them ready for danger, with nothing to support them except their violence and daring. Nevertheless they may be easily persuaded to devote themselves to any thing useful, and have thus engaged both in science and letters. Their power consists both in the size of their bodies and also in their numbers. Their frankness and simplicity lead them easily to assemble in masses, each one feeling indignant at what appears injustice to his neighbour. At the present time indeed they are all at peace, being in subjection and living under the command of the Romans, who have subdued them; but we have described their customs as we understand they existed in former times, and as they still exist amongst the Germans. These two nations, both by nature and in their form of government, are similar and related to each other. Their countries border on each other, being separated by the river Rhine, and are for the most part similar. Germany, however, is more to the north, if we compare together the southern and northern parts of the two countries respectively. Thus it is that they can so easily change their abode. They march in crowds in one collected army, or rather remove with all their families, whenever they are ejected by a more powerful force. They were subdued by the Romans much more easily than the Iberians; for they began to wage war with these latter first, and ceased last, having in the mean time conquered the whole of the nations situated between the Rhine and the mountains of the Pyrenees. For these fighting in crowds and vast numbers, were overthrown in crowds, whereas the Iberians kept themselves in reserve, and broke up the war into a series of petty engagements, showing themselves in different bands, sometimes here sometimes there, like banditti. All the Gauls are warriors by nature, but they fight better on horseback than on foot and the flower of the Roman cavalry is drawn from their number. The most valiant of them dwell towards the north and next the ocean.
3. Of these they say that the Belgæ are the bravest. They are divided into fifteen nations, and dwell near the ocean between the Rhine and the Loire, and have therefore sustained themselves single-handed against the incursions of the Germans, the Cimbri, and the Teutons. The bravest of the ​Belgæ are the Bellovaci, and after them the Suessiones. The amount of their population may be estimated by the fact that formerly there were said to be 300,000 Belgæ capable of bearing arms. The numbers of the Helvetii, the Arverni, and their allies, have already been mentioned. All this is a proof both of the amount of the population [of Gaul], and, as before remarked, of the fecundity of their women, and the ease with which they rear their children. The Gauls wear the sagum, let their hair grow, and wear short breeches. Instead of tunics they wear a slashed garment with sleeves descending a little below the hips. The wool [of their sheep] is coarse, but long; from it they weave the thick saga called laines. However, in the northern parts the Romans rear flocks of sheep which they cover with skins, and which produce very fine wool. The equipment [of the Gauls] is in keeping with the size of their bodies; they have a long sword hanging at their right side, a long shield, and lances in proportion, together with a madaris somewhat resembling a javelin; some of them also use bows and slings; they have also a piece of wood resembling a pilum, which they hurl not out of a thong, but from their hand, and to a farther distance than an arrow. They principally make use of it in shooting birds. To the present day most of them lie on the ground, and take their meals seated on straw. They subsist principally on milk and all kinds of flesh, especially that of swine, which they eat both fresh and salted. Their swine live in the fields, and surpass in height, strength, and swiftness. To persons unaccustomed to approach them they are almost as dangerous as wolves. The people dwell in great houses arched, constructed of planks and wicker, and covered with a heavy thatched roof. They have sheep and swine in such abundance, that they supply saga and salted pork in plenty, not only to Rome but to most parts of Italy. Their governments were for the most part aristocratic; formerly they chose a governor every year, and a military leader was likewise elected by the multitude. At the present day they are mostly under ​subjection to the Romans. They have a peculiar custom in their assemblies. If any one makes an uproar or interrupts the person speaking, an attendant advances with a drawn sword, and commands him with menace to be silent; if he persists, the attendant does the same thing a second and third time; and finally, [if he will not obey,] cuts off from his sagum so large a piece as to render the remainder useless. The labours of the two sexes are distributed in a manner the reverse of what they are with us, but this is a common thing with numerous other barbarians.
4. Amongst [the Gauls] there are generally three divisions of men especially reverenced, the Bards, the Vates, and the Druids. The Bards composed and chanted hymns; the Vates occupied themselves with the sacrifices and the study of nature; while the Druids joined to the study of nature that of moral philosophy. The belief in the justice [of the Druids] is so great that the decision both of public and private disputes is referred to them; and they have before now, by their decision, prevented armies from engaging when drawn up in battle-array against each other. All cases of murder are particularly referred to them. When there is plenty of these they imagine there will likewise be a plentiful harvest. Both these and the others assert that the soul is indestructible, and likewise the world, but that sometimes fire and sometimes water have prevailed in making great changes.
5. To their simplicity and vehemence, the Gauls join much folly, arrogance, and love of ornament. They wear golden collars round their necks, and bracelets on their arms and wrists, and those who are of any dignity have garments dyed and worked with gold. This lightness of character makes them intolerable when they conquer, and throws them into consternation when worsted. In addition to their folly, they have a barbarous and absurd custom, common however with many nations of the north, of suspending the heads of their enemies from their horses’ necks on their return from battle, and when they have arrived nailing them as a spectacle to their gates. Posidonius says he witnessed this in many different places, and was at first shocked, but became familiar with it in time on account of its frequency. The ​heads of any illustrious persons they embalm with cedar, exhibit them to strangers, and would not sell them for their weight in gold. However, the Romans put a stop to these customs, as well as to their modes of sacrifice and divination, which were quite opposite to those sanctioned by our laws. They would strike a man devoted as an offering in his back with a sword, and divine from his convulsive throes. Without the Druids they never sacrifice. It is said they have other modes of sacrificing their human victims; that they pierce some of them with arrows, and crucify others in their temples; and that they prepare a colossus of hay and wood, into which they put cattle, beasts of all kinds, and men, and then set fire to it.
6. They say that in the ocean, not far from the coast, there is a small island lying opposite to the outlet of the river Loire, inhabited by Samnite women who are Bacchantes, and conciliate and appease that god by mysteries and sacrifices. No man is permitted to land on the island; and when the women desire to have intercourse with the other sex, they cross the sea, and afterwards return again. They have a custom of once a year unroofing the whole of the temple, and roofing it again the same day before sun-set, each one bringing some of the materials. If any one lets her burden fall, she is torn in pieces by the others, and her limbs carried round the temple with wild shouts, which they never cease until their rage is exhausted. [They say] it always happens that some one drops her burden, and is thus sacrificed.
But what Artemidorus tells us concerning the crows, partakes still more of fiction. He narrates that on the coast, washed by the ocean, there is a harbour named the Port of Two Crows, and that here two crows may be seen with their right wings white. Those who have any dispute come here, and each one having placed a plank for himself on a lofty eminence, sprinkles crumbs thereupon; the birds fly to these, eat up the one and scatter the other, and he whose crumbs are scattered gains the cause. This narration has decidedly too much the air of fiction. What he narrates concerning Ceres and Proserpine is more credible. He says that there is an island near Britain in which they perform sacrifices to ​these goddesses after the same fashion that they do in Samothrace. The following is also credible, that a tree grows in Keltica similar to a fig, which produces a fruit resembling a Corinthian capital, and which, being cut, exudes a poisonous juice which they use for poisoning their arrows. It is well known that all the Kelts are fond of disputes; and that amongst them pæderasty is not considered shameful. Ephorus extends the size of Keltica too far, including within it most of what we now designate as Iberia, as far as Gades. He states that the people are great admirers of the Greeks, and relates many particulars concerning them not applicable to their present state. This is one:—That they take great care not to become fat or big-bellied, and that if any young man exceeds the measure of a certain girdle, he is punished.
Such is our account of Keltica beyond the Alps.
CHAPTER V. BRITAIN.
1. BRITAIN is triangular in form; its longest side lies parallel to Keltica, in length neither exceeding nor falling short of it; for each of them extends as much as 4300 or 4400 stadia; the side of Keltica extending from the mouths of the Rhine to the northern extremities of the Pyrenees towards Aquitaine; and that of Britain, which commences at Kent, its most eastern point, opposite the mouths of the Rhine, extending to the western extremity of the island, which lies over against Aquitaine and the Pyrenees. This is the shortest line from the Pyrenees to the Rhine; the longest is said to be 5000 stadia; but it is likely that there is some ​convergency of the river towards the mountain from a strictly parallel position, there being an inclination of either toward the other at the extremities next the ocean.
2. There are four passages commonly used from the continent to the island, namely, from the mouths of the rivers Rhine, Seine, Loire, and Garonne; but to such as set sail from the parts about the Rhine, the passage is not exactly from its mouths, but from the Morini, who border on the Menapii, among whom also is situated Itium, which divus Cæsar used as his naval station when about to pass over to the island; he set sail by night, and arrived the next day about the fourth hour, having completed a passage of 320 stadia, and he found the corn in the fields. The greatest portion of the island is level and woody, although many tracts are hilly. It produces corn, cattle, gold, silver, and iron, which things are brought whence, and also skins, and slaves, and dogs sagacious in hunting; the Kelts use these, as well as their native dogs, for the purposes of war. The men are taller than the Kelts, with hair less yellow; they are slighter in their persons. As an instance of their height, we ourselves saw at Rome some youths who were taller than the tallest there, by as much as half a foot, but their legs were bowed, and in other respects they were not symmetrical in conformation. Their manners are in part like those of the Kelts, though in part more simple and barbarous; insomuch that some of them, though possessing plenty of milk, have not skill enough to make cheese, and are totally unacquainted with horticulture and other matters of husbandry. There are several states amongst them. In their wars they make use of chariots for the most part, as do some of the Kelts. Forests are their cities; for having enclosed an ample space ​with felled trees, they make themselves huts therein, and lodge their cattle, though not for any long continuance. Their atmosphere is more subject to rain than to snow; even in their clear days the mist continues for a considerable time, insomuch that throughout the whole day the sun is only visible for three or four hours about noon; and this must be the case also amongst the Morini, and the Menapii, and among all the neighbouring people.
3. Divus Cæsar twice passed over to the island, but quickly returned, having effected nothing of consequence, nor proceeded far into the country, as well on account of some commotions in Keltica, both among his own soldiers and among the barbarians, as because of the loss of many of his ships at the time of the full moon, when both the ebb and flow of the tides were greatly increased. Nevertheless he gained two or three victories over the Britons, although he had transported thither only two legions of his army, and brought away hostages and slaves and much other booty. At the present time, however, some of the princes there have, by their embassies and solicitations, obtained the friendship of Augustus Cæsar, dedicated their offerings in the Capitol, and brought the whole island into intimate union with the Romans. They pay but moderate duties both on the imports and exports from Keltica; which are ivory bracelets and necklaces, amber, vessels of glass, and small wares; so that the island scarcely needs a garrison, for at the least it would require one legion and some cavalry to enforce tribute from them; and the total expenditure for the army would be equal to the revenue collected; for if a tribute were levied, of necessity the imposts must be diminished, and at the same time some danger would be incurred if force were to be employed.
4. There are also other small islands around Britain; but one, of great extent, Ierna, lying parallel to it towards the ​north, long, or rather, wide; concerning which we have nothing certain to relate, further than that its inhabitants are more savage than the Britons, feeding on human flesh, and enormous eaters, and deeming it commendable to devour their deceased fathers, as well as openly to have commerce not only with other women, but also with their own mothers and sisters. But this we relate perhaps without very competent authority; although to eat human flesh is said to be a Scythian custom; and during the severities of a siege, even the Kelts, the Iberians, and many others, are reported to have done the like.
5. The account of Thule is still more uncertain, on account of its secluded situation; for they consider it to be the northernmost of all lands of which the names are known. The falsity of what Pytheas has related concerning this and neighbouring places, is proved by what he has asserted of well-known countries. For if, as we have shown, his description of these is in the main incorrect, what he says of far distant countries is still more likely to be false. Nevertheless, as far as astronomy and the mathematics are concerned, he appears to have reasoned correctly, that people bordering on the frozen ​zone would be destitute of cultivated fruits, and almost deprived of the domestic animals; that their food would consist of millet, herbs, fruits, and roots; and that where there was corn and honey they would make drink of these. That having no bright sun, they would thresh their corn, and store it in vast granaries, threshing-floors being useless on account of the rain and want of sun.
CHAPTER VI. THE ALPS.
1. HAVING described Keltica beyond the Alps, and the nations who inhabit the country, we must now speak of the Alps themselves and their inhabitants, and afterwards of the whole of Italy; observing in our description such arrangement as the nature of the country shall point out.
The Alps do not commence at Monœci Portus, as some have asserted, but from the region whence the Apennines take their rise about Genoa, a mercantile city of the Ligurians, and at the marshes named Sabatorum Vada; for the Apennines take their rise near Genoa, and the Alps near Sabatorum Vada. The distance between Genoa and the Sabatorum Vada is about 260 stadia. About 370 stadia farther on is the little city of Albingaunum, inhabited by Ligurians who are called Ingauni. From thence to the Monœci Portus is 480 stadia. In the interval between is the very considerable city of Albium Intemelium, inhabited by the Intemelii. These names are sufficient to prove that the Alps commence at the Sabbatorum Vada. For the Alps were formerly called Albia and Alpionia, and at the present day the high mountain in the country of the Iapodes, next to Ocra and the Alps, is named Albius, showing that the Alps extend so far.
​2. Now since the Ligurians were divided into Ingauni and Intemelii, it was natural that their maritime colonies should be distinguished, one by the name of Albium Intemelium, Alpine as it were, and the other by the more concise form Albingaunum. To these two tribes of Ligurians already mentioned, Polybius adds those of the Oxybii and Deciates. The whole coast from Monœci Portus to Tyrrhenia is continuous, and without harbours excepting some small roads and anchorages. Above it rise the rugged precipices of the Alpine range, leaving but a narrow passage along the sea. This district, but particularly the mountains, is inhabited by Ligurians, principally subsisting on the produce of their herds, and milk, and a drink made of barley. There is plenty of wood here for the construction of ships; the trees grow to a vast size, some of them having been found eight feet in diameter. Much of the wood is veined, and not inferior to cedar-wood for cabinet work. This wood, together with the produce of their cattle, hides, and honey, they transport to the mart of Genoa, receiving in exchange for them the oil and wine of Italy; for the little [wine] which their country produces is harsh and tastes of pitch. Here are bred the horses and mules known as ginni, and here too are wrought the Ligurian tunics and saga. In their country likewise there is plenty of lingurium, called by some electrum. They use but few cavalry in war; their infantry are good, and excellent slingers. Some have thought that their brazen shields prove these people to be of Grecian origin.
3. The Monœci Portus is merely a roadstead, not capable of containing either many or large vessels. Here is a temple dedicated to Hercules Monœcus. The name seems to show it probable that the Massilian voyages along the coast extended as far as here. Monœci Portus is distant from Antipolis rather more than 200 stadia. The Salyes occupy the region from thence to Marseilles, or a little farther; they ​inhabit the Alps which lie above that city, and a portion of the sea-coast, where they intermingle with the Greeks. The ancient Greeks gave to the Salyes the name of Ligyes, and to the country which was in the possession of the Marseillese, that of Ligystica. The later Greeks named them Kelto-Ligyes, and assigned to them the whole of the plains extending as far as Luerion and the Rhone. They are divided into ten cantons, and are capable of raising troops not only of infantry, but of cavalry also. These people were the first of the Transalpine Kelts whom the Romans subdued after maintaining a lengthened war against them and the Ligurians. They closed [against the Romans] all the roads into Iberia along the sea-coast, and carried on a system of pillage both by sea and land. Their strength so increased that large armies were scarcely able to force a passage. And after a war of eighty years, the Romans were hardly able to obtain a breadth of twelve stadia for the purpose of making a public road. After this, however, the Romans subdued the whole of them, and established among them a regular form of government, and imposed a tribute.
​5. After the Vocontii, are the Iconii, the Tricorii, and the Medulli; who inhabit the lofties ridges of the mountains, for they say that some of them have an almost perpendicular ascent of 100 stadia, and a similar descent to the frontiers of Italy. In these high-lands there is a great lake; there are also two springs not far distant from each other; one of these gives rise to the Durance, which flows like a torrent into the Rhone, and to the Durias, which flows in an opposite direction; for it mingles with the Po after having pursued its course through the country of the Salassi into Cisalpine Keltica. From the other source, but much lower down, rises the Po itself, large and rapid, which as it advances becomes still vaster, and at the same time more gentle. As it reaches the plains it increases in breadth, being augmented by numerous [other rivers], and thus it becomes less impetuous in its course, and its current is weakened. Having become the largest river in Europe, with the exception ot the Danube, it discharges itself into the Adriatic Sea. The Medulli are situated considerably above the confluence of the Isère and the Rhone.
6. On the opposite side of the mountains, sloping towards Italy, dwell the Taurini, a Ligurian nation, together with certain other Ligurians. What is called the land of Ideonnus and Cottius belongs to these Ligurians. Beyond them and the Po are the Salassi; above whom in the summits [of the Alps] are the Kentrones, the Catoriges, the Veragri, the Nantuatæ, Lake Leman, traversed by the Rhone, and the ​sources of that river. Not far from these are the sources of the Rhine, and Mount Adulas, from whence the Rhine flows towards the north; likewise the Adda, which flows in an opposite direction, and discharges itself into Lake Larius, near to Como. Lying above Como, which is situated at the roots of the Alps, on one side are the Rhæti and Vennones towards the east, and on the other the Lepontii, the Tridentini, the Stoni, and numerous other small nations, poor and addicted to robbery, who in former times possessed Italy. At the present time some of them have been destroyed, and the others at length civilized, so that the passes over the mountains through their territories, which were formerly few and difficult, now run in every direction, secure from any danger of these people, and as accessible as art can make them. For Augustus Cæsar not only destroyed the robbers, but improved the character of the roads as far as practicable, although he could not every where overcome nature, on account of the rocks and immense precipices; some of which tower above the road, while others yawn beneath; so that departing ever so little [from the path], the traveller is in inevitable danger of falling down bottomless chasms. In some places the road is so narrow as to make both the foot traveller and his beasts of burden, who are unaccustomed to it, dizzy; but the animals of the district will carry their burdens quite securely. These things however are beyond remedy, as well as the violent descent of vast masses of congealed snow from above, capable of overwhelming a whole company at a time, and sweeping them into the chasms beneath. Numerous masses lie one upon the other, one hill of congealed snow being formed upon another, so that the uppermost mass is easily detached at any time from that below it, before being perfectly melted by the sun.
7. A great part of the country of the Salassi lies in a deep valley, formed by a chain of mountains which encloses the district on either side; a part of them however inhabit the ​overhanging ridges. The route of those who are desirous of passing from Italy over these mountains, lies through the aforesaid valley. Beyond this the road separates into two. The one which passes through the mountain peaks, known as the Pennine Alps, cannot be traversed by carriages; the other, which runs through the country of the Centrones, lies more to the west. The country of the Salassi contains gold mines, of which formerly, in the days of their power, they were masters, as well as of the passes. The river Doria Baltea afforded them great facility in obtaining the metal by [supplying them with water] for washing the gold, and they have emptied the main bed by the numerous trenches cut for drawing the water to different places. This operation, though advantageous in gold hunting, was injurious to the agriculturists below, as it deprived them of the irrigation of a river, which, by the height of its position, was capable of watering their plains. This gave rise to frequent wars between the two nations; when the Romans gained the dominion, the Salassi lost both thei gold works and their country, but as they still possessed the mountains, they continued to sell water to the public contractors of the gold mines; with whom there were continual disputes on account of the avarice of the contractors, and thus the Roman generals sent into the country were ever able to find a pretext for commencing war. And, until very recently, the Salassi at one time waging war against the Romans, and at another making peace, took occasion to inflict numerous damages upon those who crossed over their mountains, by their system of plundering; and even exacted from Decimus Brutus, on his flight from Mutina, a drachm per man. Messala, likewise, having taken up his winter quarters in their vicinity, was obliged to pay them, both for his fire-wood, and for the elm-wood for making javelins for the exercise of his troops. In one instance they plundered the treasures of Cæsar, and rolled down huge ​masses of rock upon the soldiers under pretence of making roads, or building bridges over the rivers. Afterwards Augustus completely overthrew them, and carried them to Eporedia, a Roman colony which had been planted as a bulwark against the Salassi, although the inhabitants were able to do but little against them until the nation was destroyed; their numbers amounted to 36,000 persons, besides 8000 men capable of bearing arms. Terentius Varro, the general who defeated them, sold them all by public auction, as enemies taken in war. Three thousand Romans sent out by Augustus founded the city of Augusta, on the spot where Varro had encamped, and now the whole surrounding country, even to the summits of the mountains, is at peace.
8. Beyond, both the eastern parts of the mountains, and those likewise inclining to the south, are possessed by the Rhæti and Vindelici, who adjoin the Helvetii and Boii, and press upon their plains. The Rhæti extend as far as Italy above Verona and Como. The Rhætian wine, which is esteemed not inferior to the finest wines of Italy, is produced [from vines which grow] at the foot of the mountains. These people extend also as far as the districts through which the Rhine flows. The Lepontii and Camuni are of their nation. The Vindelici and Norici possess, for the most part, the opposite side of the mountains together with the Breuni and Genauni, who form part of the Illyrians. All these people were continually making incursions both into the neighbouring parts of Italy, and into [the countries] of the Helvetii, ​the Sequani, the Boii, and the Germans. But the Licattii, the Clautinatii, and the Vennones proved the boldest amongst the Vindelici; and the Rucantii and Cotuantii amongst the Rhæti. Both the Estiones and Brigantii belong to the Vindelici; their cities are Brigantium, Campodunum, and Damasia, which may be looked upon as the Acropolis of the Licattii. It is narrated, as an instance of the extreme brutality of these robbers towards the people of Italy, that when they have taken any village or city, they not only put to death all the men capable of bearing arms, but likewise all the male children, and do not even stop here, but murder every pregnant woman who, their diviners say, will bring forth a male infant.
9. After these come certain of the Norici, and the Carni, who inhabit the country about the Adriatic Gulf and Aquileia. The Taurisci belong to the Norici. Tiberius and his brother Drusus in one summer put a stop to their lawless incursions, so that now for three and thirty years they have lived quietly and paid their tribute regularly. Throughout the whole region of the Alps there are hilly districts capable of excellent cultivation, and well situated valleys; but the greater part, especially the summits of the mountains inhabited by the robbers, are barren and unfruitful, both on account of the frost and the ruggedness of the land. On account of the want of food and other necessaries the mountaineers have sometimes been obliged to spare the inhabitants of the plains, that they might have some people to supply them; for these they have given them in exchange, resin, pitch, torches, ​wax, cheese, and honey, of which they have plenty. In the Mount Apennine, which lies above the Carni there is a lake which runs out into the Isar, which river, after receiving another river, the Aude, discharges itself into the Adriatic. From this lake there is also another river, the Atesinus, which flows into the Danube. The Danube itself rises in the mountains which are split into many branches and numerous summits. For from Liguria to here the summits of the Alps stretch along continuously, presenting the appearance of one mountain; but after this they rise and fall in turns, forming numerous ridges and peaks. The first of these is beyond the Rhine and the lake inclining towards the east, its ridge moderately elevated; here are the sources of the Danube near to the Suevi and the forest of Hercynia. The other branches extend towards Illyria and the Adriatic, such are the Mount Apennine, already mentioned, Tullum and Phligadia, the mountains lying above the Vindelici from whence proceed the Duras, the Clanis, and many other rivers which discharge themselves like torrents into the current of the Danube.
10. Near to these regions dwell the Iapodes, (a nation now mixed with the Illyrians, and Kelts,) close to them is [the Mount] Ocra. Formerly the Iapodes were numerous, inhabiting either side of the mountain, and were notorious for their predatory habits, but they have been entirely reduced and brought to subjection by Augustus Cæsar. Their cities are ​Metulum, Arupenum, Monetium, and Vendon. After these is the city of Segesta, [situated] in a plain. Near to it flows the river Save, which discharges itself into the Danube. This city lies in an advantageous position for carrying on war against the Dacians. Ocra forms the lowest portion of the Alps, where they approach the territory of the Carni, and through which they convey the merchandise of Aquileia in waggons to Pamportus. This route is not more than 400 stadia. From thence they convey it by the rivers as far as the Danube and surrounding districts, for a navigable river which flows out of Illyria, passes by Pamportus, and discharges itself into the Save, so that the merchandise may easily be carried down both to Segesta, and to the Pannonians, and Taurisci. It is near this city, that the Kulp falls into the Save. Both of these rivers are navigable, and flow down from the Alps. The Alps contain wild horses and cattle, and Polybius asserts that an animal of a singular form is found there; it resembles a stag except in the neck and hair, which are similar to those of a wild boar; under its chin it has a tuft of hair about a span long, and the thickness of the tail of a young horse.
11. One of the passages over the mountains from Italy into Transalpine and northern Keltica is that which passes through the country of the Salassi, and leads to Lugdunum. This [route] is divided into two ways, one practicable for carriages, but longer, which crosses the country of the Centrones, the other steep and narrow, but shorter; this crosses the Pennine [Alps]. Lugdunum is situated in the midst of the country, serving as an Acropolis, both on account of the confluence of ​the rivers, and of its being equally near to all parts. It was on this account that Agrippa cut all the roads from this [as a centre] one running through the mountains of the Cevennes to the Santones and Aquitaine, another towards the Rhine; a third towards the ocean by the country of the Bellovaci and Ambiani, and a fourth towards the Narbonnaise and the coast of Marseilles. The traveller, also, leaving Lugdunum and the country above on his left, may pass over the Pennine Alps themselves, the Rhone, or Lake Leman, into the plains of the Helvetii, whence there is a passage through Mount Jura into the country of the Sequani, and Lingones; here the road separates into two routes, one running to the Rhine, and the other to the ocean.
12. Polybius tells us that in his time the gold mines were so rich about Aquileia, but particularly in the countries of the Taurisci Norici, that if you dug but two feet below the surface you found gold, and that the diggings [generally] were not deeper than fifteen feet. In some instances the gold was found pure in lumps about the size of a bean or lupin, and which diminished in the fire only about one eighth; and in others, though requiring more fusion, was still very profitable. Certain Italians aiding the barbarians in working [the mines], in the space of two months the value of gold was diminished throughout the whole of Italy by one third. The Taurisci on discovering this drove out their fellow-labourers, and only sold the gold themselves. Now, however, the Romans possess all the gold mines. Here, too, as well as in Iberia, the rivers yield gold-dust as well as the diggings, ​though not in such large quantities. The same writer, speaking of the extent and height of the Alps, compares with them the largest mountains of Greece, such as Taygetum, Lycæum, Parnassus, Olympus, Pelion, Ossa, and of Thrace, as the Hæmus, Rhodope, and Dunax, saying that an active person might almost ascend any of these in a single day, and go round them in the same time, whereas five days would not be sufficient to ascend the Alps, while their length along the plains extends 2200 stadia. He only names four passes over the mountains, one through Liguria close to the Tyrrhenian Sea, a second through the country of the Taurini, by which Hannibal passed, a third through the country of the Salassi, and a fourth through that of the Rhæti, all of them precipitous. In these mountains, he says, there are numerous lakes; three large ones, the first of which is Benacus, 500 stadia in length and 130 in breadth, the river Mincio flows from it. The second is the Verbanus, 400 stadia [in length], and in breadth smaller than the preceding; ​the great river Ticino flows from this [lake]. The third is the Larius, its length is nearly 300 stadia, and its breadth 30, the river Adda flows from it. All these rivers flow into the Po. This is what we have to say concerning the Alpine mountains.
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* ↑ Gaul is properly divided into the four grand divisions of the Narbonnaise, Aquitaine, Keltica, and Belgica. Strabo has principally copied Cæsar, who appears only to have divided Gaul into Aquitaine, Keltica, and Belgica. Cæsar however only speaks of the provinces he had conquered, and makes no mention of the Narbonnaise, which had submitted to the Romans before his time. Strabo seems to have thought that the Narbonnaise formed part of Keltica.
* ↑ The whole of this passage, says Gosselin, is full of mistakes, and it would seem that Strabo quoted from an inexact copy of Cæsar. To understand his meaning, we must remember that he supposed the Pyrenees extended from north to south, instead of from east to west; and since he adds that these mountains divide the Cevennes at right angles, he must have supposed that this second chain extended from east to west, instead of from north to south. He likewise fancied that the Garonne, the Loire, and the Seine ran from north to south like the Rhine. Starting from such premises, it was impossible he could avoid confusion; thus we find him describing the Aquitani as north of the Cevennes, when in fact they dwelt north of the Pyrenees, between those mountains and the Garonne, and west of the southern portions of the Cevennes. Where he says that the Kelts dwelt on the other side or east of the Garonne, and towards the sea of Narbonne and Marseilles, it is clear that he prolonged Keltica into the Narbonnaise, since this last province extended along the Mediterranean from the frontiers of Spain to the Alps. Cæsar had stated that the Gauls (the Kelts of Strabo) ipsorum lingua Keltæ, nostri Galli, dwelt between the Garonne, the Seine, the Marne, and the Rhine. Finally, Strabo appears to have assigned the greater part of Gaul to the Belgæ in making them extend from the ocean, and the mouth of the Rhine, to the Alps. This considerably embarrassed Xylander, but as we have seen that Strabo transported a portion of the Kelts into the Narbonnaise, it is easy to imagine that, in order to make these people border on the Belgæ, he was forced to extend them as far as the Alps, near the sources of the Rhine. Cæsar located the Belgæ between the Seine, the ocean, and the Rhine.
* ↑ From the ocean to the Mediterranean, and vice versa.
* ↑ Alluding to the superiority of the climate on the shores of the Mediterranean.
* ↑ We shall see in the course of this book, that under the name of Alps Strabo includes the different mountain-chains separated from the range of Alps properly so called. This accounts for his extending those mountains on the west as far as Marseilles, and on the east beyond Istria.
* ↑ The Marseillese.
* ↑ The Salyes inhabited Provence.
* ↑ As Strabo has made no previous mention of this river, the words “as we have said before” are evidently interpolated.
* ↑ This temple was built on Cape Creus, which on that account received the name of Aphrodisium. Many geographers confound this temple with the portus Veneris, the modern Vendres, which is at a short distance from Cape Creus.
* ↑ Gosselin, who considers that the former numbers were correct, enters at some length on an argument to prove that these 53 miles were 62, and differs also in computing the succeeding numbers.
* ↑ Cottius possessed the present Briançonnais. That portion of the Alps next this canton took from this sovereign the name of the Cottian Alps. Cottius bore the title of king; and Augustus recognised his independence; he lived till the time of Nero, when his possessions became a Roman province.
* ↑ About 600 years before the Christian era.
* ↑ Ἀφίδρυμά τι τῶν ἱερῶν. Gosselin gives a note on these words, and translates them in his text as follows, “one of the statues consecrated in her temple.”
* ↑ τιμοῦχος, literally, one having honour and esteem.
* ↑ We have seen no reason to depart from a literal rendering of the Greek in this passage, its meaning, “whose ancestors have not been citizens,” &c., being self-evident.
* ↑ This name has evidently been corrupted, but it seems difficult to determine what stood originally in the text; most probably it was Rhodanusia.
* ↑ The people of Marseilles.
* ↑ Solinus tells us that in his day the waters had lost their virtue, and that their fame had declined. “Quarum calor, olim acrior, exhalatus per tempora evaporavit; nec jam par est famæ priori.” Solin. cap. 8. The victory of Sextius, mentioned by Strabo, is said to have been gained in the year of Rome 629.
* ↑ The Cape de Creus, a promontory on which was the temple of the Pyrenæan Venus.
* ↑ Gosselin says, “The Island of Blascon is a rock opposite Agde, on which remains a fortified castle, which preserves the name of Brescon. This rock has been connected with the mainland, to form the port of Agde.”
* ↑ At the present day Narbonne is not situated on the Aude, the course of that river being changed. The lake of Narbonne, mentioned by Strabo, is not the present lake of Narbonne, but the lake of Rubine.
* ↑ Viz. Ruscino, now superseded by Perpignan on the Tet; and Ilibirris, now Elne on the Tech.
* ↑ “This ancient city,” says Gosselin, “no longer exists, with the exception of an old tower, scarcely a league from Perpignan, which still bears the name of the Tower of Roussillon.
* ↑ This river does not rise in the Cevennes, but in the Pyrenees.
* ↑ This name is evidently corrupt; the Arauris of Mela and Ptolemy (the modern Herault) is probably intended.
* ↑ The French bise.
* ↑ Βράσται σεισμοί, earthquakes attended with a violent fermentation.
* ↑ The text has, “both of their opinions are credible,” (πιθανὸς μὲν οὗν ὁ παρ ᾽ ἀμφοῖν λόγος,) but this is discountenanced by the whole sentence.
* ↑ From the “Prometheus Loosed,” which is now lost.
* ↑ The historian, son of Andromachus.
* ↑ The mouths of the Rhone, like those of other impetuous rivers, are subject to considerable changes, and vary from one age to another. Ptolemy agrees with Polybius in stating that there are but two mouths to the Rhone, and those which he indicates are at the present day almost entirely filled up; the one being at Aigues-Mortes, the other the canal now called the Rhône-Mort.
* ↑ Two Helvetian tribes who united themselves to the Cimbri to pass into Italy, and were defeated near Aix by Marius.
* ↑ The French editors propose to read here five mouths, thus referring to the opinion of Timæus. This, Kramer observes, Strabo probably intended to do. Still, as there were some who were of opinion the Rhone has seven mouths, as appears from Apoll. Rhod. Argonaut. iv. 634], he did not venture to touch the text.
* ↑ Inhabitants of Provence.
* ↑ Les Isles d’Hières, a row of islands off Marseilles.
* ↑ Between the river d’Argents and Antibes.
* ↑ From the mouth of the Durance to the mouth of the Isère, following the course of the Rhone, the distance is 24 leagues, or 720 Olympic stadia.
* ↑ The Vocontii occupied the territories of Vaison and Die. The Tricorii appear to have inhabited a small district east of Die, on the banks of the Drac. The Iconii were to the east of Gap; and the Medylli in La Maurienne, along the Aar.
* ↑ Casaubon remarks that Æmilianus is a name more than this Roman general actually possessed.
* ↑ Livy states that 120,000 Kelts were slain, and Pliny, 130,000.
* ↑ The Allobroges and Segusii were separated by the Rhone; the former inhabiting the left bank of the river.
* ↑ The Saone rises in the Vosges.
* ↑ These people are elsewhere called by Strabo Lingones, the name by which they are designated by other writers.
* ↑ The Doubs rises in the Jura, not in the Alps. Ptolemy falls into the same mistake as Strabo.
* ↑ We have here followed the proposed correction of Ziegler.
* ↑ This name is written diversely, Tectosages, Tectosagæ, and Tectosagi. It appears to be composed of the two Latin words, “tectus,” covered, and “sagum,” a species of cassock.
* ↑ Viz. between Lodève and Toulouse; we must remember that Strabo supposed the chain of the Cevennes to run west and east.
* ↑ These three nations inhabited Galatia, of which Ancyra was the capital.
* ↑ 279 years before the Christian era.
* ↑ Justin tells us that the Tectosages on returning to Toulouse from the expedition, were attacked with a pestilential malady, from which they could find no relief until they complied with the advice of their augurs, and cast the ill-gotten wealth into a lake. Justin, lib. xxxii. c. 3.
* ↑ The Atlantic and Mediterranean.
* ↑ The Lexovii inhabited the southern banks of the Seine, Lizieux was anciently their capital. The Caleti occupied the opposite side of the Seine, and the sea-coast as far as Tréport.
* ↑ The inhabitants of Auvergne.
* ↑ The whole of Gaul bore the name of Keltica long before the Romans had penetrated into that country. After their conquest of the southern provinces, they distinguished them from the rest of Keltica by conferring on them the name of Gallia Narbonensis. Aristotle gave the name of Kelts to the inhabitants of the country near Narbonne. Polybius tells us that the Pyrenees separated the Iberians from the Kelts; while Diodorus Siculus fixed the position of the Kelts between the Alps and the Pyrenees.
* ↑ “Strabo,” says Gosselin, “always argues on the hypothesis that the Pyrenees run from south to north; that the Garonne and the Loire flowed in the same direction; that the Cevennes stretched from west to east; and that the coasts of Gaul, from the Pyrenees, rose gently towards the north, bending considerably east.”
* ↑ The Garonne becomes navigable at Cazères near to Rieux, in the ancient Comté de Comminges. From this point to its mouth, following the sinuosities of the river, there are about 68 leagues of 20 to a degree, or 2030 Olympic stadia. The Loire is navigable as far as St. Rambert, about three leagues from St. Etienne-en-Forez, that is to say, double the distance assigned by Strabo. 2000 stadia measured from the mouth of the Loire would extend merely as far as Orleans.
* ↑ Probably the Arriége, the Tarn, and the Dordogne.
* ↑ The present Saintes was the capital of this nation.
* ↑ Poictiers was the capital of the Pictones or Pictavi, and Nantes of the Namnetæ.
* ↑ Scipio Æmilianus.
* ↑ The Tarbelli occupied the sea-coast from the Pyrenees to the Lake of Arcachon.
* ↑ Xylander thinks that these Onesii may be identical with the Monesi of Pliny. Gosselin says that the hot springs are probably the baths of Bagnières-sur-l’Adour.
* ↑ The territory of the city of Auch.
* ↑ The inhabitants of Vivarais.
* ↑ The inhabitants of Vélai.
* ↑ The inhabitants of Auvergne.
* ↑ The Limousins.
* ↑ The inhabitants of Périgord, Agénois, Querci, and Berri.
* ↑ The inhabitants of Saintonge and Poitou.
* ↑ The inhabitants of Rouergue and Gévaudan.
* ↑ Gosselin supposes that this city is Clermont in Auvergne at some distance from the Allier.
* ↑ The people of the Chartrain.
* ↑ Cæsar himself (lib. vii. c. 76) states the number at 248,000 men.
* ↑ Alise. The ruins of Alesia, says Gosselin, still exist near to Flavigni in Burgundy, on Mount Auxois, between two small rivers, the Oze and the Ozerain, which flow into the Brenne.
* ↑ In Athenæus, (lib. iv. p. 152,) this name is written Luernius.
* ↑ MSS. read ὑπὸ, “under,” we have not hesitated to translate it ἐπὶ, like the Italian, French, and German versions; although Kramer remarks “paulo audacius,” of Coray’s reading ἐπὶ in the Greek.
* ↑ Kramer says that ἄλλος is manifestly corrupt.—I have ventured to translate it another altar.
* ↑ Kramer concurs with Falconer and Gosselin in understanding this passage to have been originally between the Rhone and the Loire.
* ↑ Autun, according to Gosselin. Beurect, according to Ferrarius.
* ↑ Cæsar, Tacitus, and other writers, also speak of this relationship of the Ædui with the Romans.
* ↑ Lit. “As for the Ædui on these accounts indeed.”
* ↑ The sources of the Rhine take their rise in Mount St. Gothard and Mount Bernardin, while the Adda rises in the glaciers of the Valteline. Adula, however, may have been the name of the Rhætian Alps.
* ↑ The Rhæti occupied the Tirol; the Vindelici that portion of Bavaria south of the Danube.
* ↑ Ptolemy says it has three. It appears that the ancient mouths of this river were not the same as the present.
* ↑ The Swiss.
* ↑ Gosselin identifies the Cimbri as the inhabitants of Jutland or Denmark.
* ↑ Casaubon remarks that the text must be corrupt, since Strabo’s account of the Helvetii must have been taken from Cæsar, who (lib. i. c. 29) states the number of slain at 258,000, and the survivors at 110,000.
* ↑ The Sequani occupied La Franche-Comté.
* ↑ Metz was the capital of the Mediomatrici.
* ↑ These people dwelt between the Rhine and the Vosges, nearly from Colmar to Hagenau.
* ↑ The Allobroges dwelt to the left of the Rhone, between that river and the Isère.
* ↑ The Arverni have given their name to Auvergne, and the Carnutes to Chartrain.
* ↑ Strabo here copies Cæsar exactly, who, speaking of his second passage into Britain, (lib. v. c. 8,) says: “Ad solis occasum naves solvit … accessum est ad Britanniam omnibus navibus meridiano fere tempore.”
* ↑ The capital of these people is Trèves.
* ↑ Viz. to the western bank of the river.
* ↑ The Nervii occupied Hainault, and the Comté de Namur.
* ↑ The Sicambri occupied the countries of Berg, Mark, and Arensberg. They afterwards formed part of the people included under the name of Franci or Franks.
* ↑ Bavai, to the south of Valenciennes, was the capital of the Nervii; Duricortora, now Rheims, of the Remi; Arras of the Atrebates, and Tongres of the Eburones.
* ↑ Térouane was the principal city of the Morini, Beauvais of the Bellovaci, Amiens of the Ambiani, Soissons of the Suessiones, and Lilebonne of the Caleti.
* ↑ Cæsar (lib. vi. c. 29) describes the forest of Ardennes as 500 miles in extent.
* ↑ Ptolemy names it Lucotecia; Cæsar, Lutetia. Julian, who was proclaimed emperor by his army in this city, names it Leucetia.
* ↑ The inhabitants of Vannes and the surrounding country.
* ↑ Neque enim his nostræ rostro nocere poterant; tanta erat in his firmitudo. Cæsar, lib. iii. c. 13.
* ↑ Vide Cæsar, lib. iii. c. 14.
* ↑ The Boii, who passed into Italy, established themselves near to Bologna.
* ↑ The Senones, or inhabitants of Sens, are thought to have founded Sienna in Italy.
* ↑ The promontory of Calbium, the present Cape Saint-Mahé, is here alluded to.
* ↑ Gosselin observes, “These people called themselves by the name of Kelts; the Greeks styled them Galatæ, and the Latins Galli or Gauls.”
* ↑ The Cimbri inhabited Denmark and the adjacent regions.
* ↑ The inhabitants of the Beauvoisis.
* ↑ Vide Cæsar, lib. ii. c. 4.
* ↑ This slashed garment is the smock frock of the English peasant and the blouse of the continent.
* ↑ Conf. Cæsar, lib. vi c. 13. Plebs pene servorum habetur loco, quæ per se nihil audet, et nulli adhibetur consilio.
* ↑ By the others are probably meant the Bards and Vates.
* ↑ These opinions are also to be found in the Pythagorean philosophy.
* ↑ These particulars are taken from Posidonius. See also Diodorus Siculus, lib. v. c. 29.
* ↑ A similar custom existed amongst the Spartans; the young people were obliged to present themselves from time to time before the Ephori, and if of the bulk thought proper for a Spartan, they were praised, if on the contrary they appeared too fat, they were punished. Athen. l. xii. p. 550. Ælian, V. H. l. xiv. c. 7. At Rome likewise it was the duty of the censor to see that the equites did not become too fat; if they did, they were punished with the loss of their horse. Aulus Gellius, Noct. Att. l. vii. c. 22.
* ↑ The coasts occupied by the Morini extended from la Canche to the Yser.
* ↑ The Menapii occupied Brabant.
* ↑ General opinion places the port Itius at Wissant, near Cape Grisnez; Professor Airy, however, is of opinion that the portus Itius of Cæsar is the estuary of the Somme. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1852, vol. ii. No. 30, p. 198.
* ↑ Cæsar passed twice into Britain: the first time he started about midnight, and arrived at the fourth hour of the day; the second time he started at the commencement of the night, and did not arrive until the following day at noon, the wind having failed about midnight.
* ↑ The fleet consisted of 1000 vessels, according to Cotta. (Athen. l. vi. c. 21.) The great loss spoken of by Strabo occurred before the first return of Cæsar into Gaul. (Cæsar, l. iv. c. 28.) As to his second return, it was occasioned, to use his own words, “propter repentinos Galliæ motus.” L. v. c. 22.
* ↑ Called by Cæsar, Hibernia; by Mela, Juverna; and by Diodorus Siculus, Iris.
* ↑ This custom resembles that related by Herodotus (lib. i. c. 216, and iv. 26) of the Massagetæ and Issedoni. Amongst these latter, when the father of a family died, all the relatives assembled at the house of the deceased, and having slain certain animals, cut them and the body of the deceased into small pieces, and having mixed the morsels together, regaled themselves on the inhuman feast.
* ↑ Strabo intends by φανερῶς what Herodotus expresses by μίξιν ἐμφανέα, καθάπερ τοῖσι προβάτοισι (concubitum, sicuti pecoribus, in propatulo esse).
* ↑ Herodotus, (l. iv. c. 180,) mentioning a similar practice amongst the inhabitants of Lake Tritonis in Libya, tells us that the men owned the children as they resembled them respectively. Mela asserts the same of the Garamantes. As to the commerce between relations, Strabo in his 16th book, speaks of it as being usual amongst the Arabs. It was a custom amongst the early Greeks. Homer makes the six sons of Æolus marry their six sisters, and Juno addresses herself to Jupiter as “Et soror et conjux.” Compare also Cæsar, lib. v.
* ↑ An extremity to which the Gauls were driven during the war they sustained against the Cimbri and Teutones, (Cæsar, lib. vii. c. 77,) and the inhabitants of Numantia in Iberia, when besieged by Scipio. (Valerius Maximus, lib. vii. c. 6.) The city of Potidæa in Greece experienced a similar calamity. (Thucyd. lib. ii. c. 70.)
* ↑ Pytheas placed Thule under the 66th degree of north latitude, which is the latitude of the north of Iceland.
* ↑ Kramer conjectures that instead of Ἀλπιόνια, we should read Ἀλπεινὰ.
* ↑ These people occupied the borders of the province of Murlaka, near to Istria, on the Gulf of Venice. Mount Albius is still called Alben.
* ↑ Casaubon observes that the Roman writers separated the name Albium Ingaunum, in the same manner as Albium Intemelium.
* ↑ These two tribes inhabited the country round Fréjus and Antibes as far as the Var.
* ↑ Or amber.
* ↑ Μόνοικος, an epithet of Hercules signifying “sole inhabitant.” According to Servius, either because after he had driven out the Ligurians he remained the sole inhabitant of the country; or because it was not usual to associate any other divinities in the temples consecrated to him.
* ↑ Λίγυες, or Ligurians.
* ↑ Λιγυστικὴ, or Liguria.
* ↑ Κελτολίγυες, or Kelto-Ligurians.
* ↑ Kramer is of opinion that we should adopt the suggestion of Mannert, to read here Avignon.
* ↑ We have adopted the reading of the older editions, which is also that of the French translation. Kramer however reads φόβον, and adds φόρον in a note.
* ↑ The Albiœci are named Albici in Cæsar; the capital city is called by Pliny Alebece Reiorum; it is now Riez in Provence.
* ↑ There are two rivers of this name which descend from the Alps and discharge themselves into the Po. The Durias which rises near the Durance is the Durias minor of the ancients, and the Doria Riparia of the moderns; this river falls into the Po at Turin.
* ↑ Gosselin observes:—The Salassi occupied the country about Aouste, or Aoste. The name of this city is a corruption of Augusta Prætoria Salassorum, which it received in the time of Augustus. The Durias which passes by Aouste is the Durias major, the modern Doria Baltea. Its sources are between the Great Saint Bernard and Mont Blanc.
* ↑ Augusta Taurinorum, hodie Turin, was the capital of these people.
* ↑ Various conjectures have been hazarded concerning this name, of which there appears to be no other mention.
* ↑ The Kentrones occupied la Tarentaise; the Catoriges, the territories of Chorges and Embrun; the Veragri, a part of the Valais south of the Rhone; and the Nantuatæ, Le Chablais.
* ↑ The Adda does not flow from the same mountain as the Rhine.
* ↑ The Rhæti are the Grisons; the Vennones, the people of the Val Telline.
* ↑ The Lepontii inhabited the Haut Valais, and the valley of Leventina; the Tridentini occupied Trente; the Stoni, Sténéco.
* ↑ These two routes still exist. The former passes by the Great Saint Bernard, or the Pennine Alps; the latter traverses the Little Saint Bernard, and descends into La Tarentaise, formerly occupied by the Centrones.
* ↑ It does not appear that Julius Cæsar is hero intended, for he mentions nothing of it in his Commentaries. It seems more probable that Strabo used the expression of Cæsar in its wider sense of Emperor, and alludes to Augustus, of whom he speaks immediately after.
* ↑ The limits of these barbarous nations were continually varying according to their success in war, in general, however, the Rhæti possessed the country of the Grisons, the Tyrol, and the district about Trent. The Lepontii possessed the Val Leventina. The Camuni the Val Camonica. The Vindelici occupied a portion of Bavaria and Suabia; on their west were the Helvetii or Swiss, and on the north the Boii, from whom they were separated by the Danube; these last people have left their name to Bohemia. The Norici possessed Styria, Carinthia, a part of Austria and Bavaria to the south of the Danube. The Breuni have given their name to the Val Braunia north of the Lago Maggiore; and the Genauni appear to have inhabited the Val Agno, between Lake Maggiore and the Lake of Como, although Strabo seems to place these people on the northern side of the Alps, towards the confines of Illyria.
* ↑ The people of Franche Comté.
* ↑ The Germans of Wirtemberg and Suabia.
* ↑ The Licattii appear to have inhabited the country about the Lech, and the Clautinatii that about the Inn; the Vennones the Val Telline.
* ↑ This disgusting brutality however is no more barbarous than the intention put by Homer into the mouth of Agamemnon, “the king of men,” which Scholiasts have in vain endeavoured to soften or excuse—τῶν μή τις ὑπεκφύγοι αἰπὺν ὄλεθρον, χεῖράς θ ᾽ ἡμετέρας, μηδ ᾽ ὅν τινα γαστέρι μήτηρ κοῦρον ἐόντα φέροι, μηδ ᾽ ὃς φύγοι, ἀλλ ᾽ ἅμα πάντες Ἰλίου ἐξαπολοίατ ᾽, ἀκήδεστοι καὶ ἄφαντοι. Iliad vi. 57–60.
* ↑ This expedition of Tiberius took place in the eleventh year of the Christian era; Strabo therefore must have written his fourth book in the 44th year.
* ↑ The Carnic, or Julian Alps, is intended.
* ↑ There is, remarks Gosselin, a palpable mistake in this passage. We neither know of a river named the Isar nor yet the Atax discharging themselves into the Adriatic. Atesinus or Athesis are the ancient names of the Adige, but this river flows into the Adriatic, and not, as Strabo seems to say, into the Danube. The error of the text appears to result from a transposition of the two names made by the copyists, and to render it intelligible we should read thus:—“There is a lake from which proceeds the Atesinus, (or the Adige,) and which, after having received the Atax, (perhaps the Eisach, or Aicha, which flows by Bolzano,) discharges itself into the Adriatic. The Isar proceeds from the same lake, and [passing by Munich] discharges itself into the Danube.”
* ↑ These two chains are in Murlaka, they are now named Telez and Flicz.
* ↑ The text reads Rhine, but we have, in common with Gosselin, followed the correction of Cluvier, Xylander, and Tyrwhitt.
* ↑ The Dacians occupied a part of Hungary, Transylvania, Wallachia, and a portion of Moldavia.
* ↑ Coray suggests Nauportus, now Ober-Laibach in Krain. This suggestion is extremely probable, however Pamportus occurs twice in the text.
* ↑ The Pannonians occupied a portion of Austria and Hungary. The Taurisci, who formed part of the former people, inhabited Styria.
* ↑ This is a description of the elk (cervus alces of Linn.). This animal no longer exists either in France or in the Alps.
* ↑ From Lyons this route passed by Vienne, Valence, Orange, and Avignon; here it separated, leading on one side to Tarascon, Nîmes, Beziers, and Narbonne, and on the other to Arles, Aix, Marseilles, Fréjus, Antibes, &c.
* ↑ This other route, says Gosselin, starting from Aouste, traversed the Great Saint Bernard, Valais, the Rhone, a portion of the Vaud, Mount Jura, and so to Besançon and Langres, where it separated, the road to the right passing by Toul, Metz, and Trèves, approached the Rhine at Mayence; while that to the left passed by Troies, Châlons, Rheims, and Bavai, where it again separated and conducted by various points to the sea-coast.
* ↑ The Italians also went into Spain, and there engaged in working the mines. Vide Diodorus Siculus, lib. v. c. 36, 38.
* ↑ In Arcadia, some suppose it to be the modern Tetragi, others Diaphorti, and others Mintha.
* ↑ Olympus is a mountain range of Thessaly, bordering on Macedonia, its summit is thirty miles north of Larissa, in lat. 40° 4′ 32″ N., long. 22° 25′ E. Its estimated height is 9745 feet.
* ↑ Now Kissovo; it is situated to the east of the river Peneus, immediately north of Mount Pelion, and bounds the celebrated vale of Tempe on one side.
* ↑ Gosselin observes, both Polybius and Strabo extended the Alps from the neighbourhood of Marseilles to beyond the Adriatic Gulf, a distance twice 2200 stadia. It appears probable from the words of Polybius himself, (lib. ii. c. 14,) that he merely intended to state the length of the plains situated at the foot of the mountains, which bound Italy on the north; and in fact the distance in a right line from the foot of the Alps about Rivoli or Pignerol to Rovigo, and the marshes formed at the mouths of the Adige and Po, is 63 leagues, or 2200 stadia of 700 to a degree.
* ↑ This route passes from Tortona, by Vadi, Albinga, Vintimille, and Monaco, where it crosses the maritime Alps, and thence to Nice, Antibes, &c. Gosselin.
* ↑ This route passes by Briançon, Mont Genèvre, the Col de Sestrière, and the Val Progelas.
* ↑ This route, starting from Milan, passed east of the lake of Como by Coire, and then by Bregentz to the Lake of Constance.
* ↑ Ticinus. We have followed the example of the French translators in making the Ticino to flow from the Lago Maggiore, and the Adda from the Lake of Como; by some inexplicable process the text of Strabo has been corrupted and these rivers transposed. Kramer notices the inconsistency of the text.
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