Geography

​On the other hand, the country that lies above the coast is characterized chiefly by the mountains that surround it and by the rivers, especially the Rhodanus, which is both the largest and has the longest navigable course, being filled from many streams; we must, therefore, speak of these in order. To those, then, who begin from Massalia and proceed into the country between the Alps and the Rhodanus, as far as the river Druentia, the Sallyes dwell for five hundred stadia; and to those who cross by ferry to the city of Caballio, all the country next in order belongs to the Cavares as far as the junction of the Isar with the Rhodanus; and here also the Cemmenus mountain somehow joins the Rhodanus; the length of the journey to this point from the Druentia is seven hundred stadia. Now, the Sallyes themselves dwell both in the plains and in the mountains that lie above, while above the Cavares lie the Vocontii, the Tricorii, the Iconii, and the Medulli. Between the Druentia and the Isar other rivers also flow from the Alps to the Rhodanus, two of them flowing around a certain city of the Cavares and joining the Rhodanus in a common channel, and a third, the Sulgas, which mixes with the Rhodanus near the city of Undalum, where Gnaeus Ahenobarbus in a great battle routed many tens of thousands of Celts. There are also cities in the intervening space, namely Avennio, Arausio, and Aeria, which is truly “airy” (as Artemidorus says) because of its being established on a great height. While all the rest of the country is flat and good for pasture, the pass from Aeria to Avennio is narrow and wooded. At the place where the river Isar, the Rhodanus, and the Cemmenus mountain meet, Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus, with not even thirty thousand men in all, slaughtered two hundred thousand Celts, and erected there a trophy of white stone and two temples, one to Ares and the other to Heracles. From the Isar to Vienna, the metropolis of the Allobroges, which lies on the Rhodanus, is three hundred and twenty stadia. Near Vienna, and lying above it, is Lugdunum, where the Arar and the Rhodanus mingle with each other; and the distance to it is about two hundred stadia by land through the territory of the Allobroges, but slightly more by water. In former times the Allobroges used to campaign with many tens of thousands of men, but now they cultivate the plains and the valleys in the Alps; and while the others live in villages, the most illustrious of them, possessing Vienna, which was formerly a village although it was nevertheless called the metropolis of the nation, have built it up as a city; it is situated on the Rhodanus. This river flows from the Alps, abundant and impetuous, so that even when passing through Lake Lemanus it shows its current clearly for many stadia. Having descended into the plains of the country of the Allobroges and Segusiavi, it joins the Arar at the city of Lugdunum, which belongs to the Segusiavi. The Arar also flows from the Alps, bounding the Sequani, the Aedui, and the Lingones, and having later received the Dubis, which flows from the same mountains and is navigable, and having prevailed with its name, so that the stream formed by both is the Arar, it mingles with the Rhodanus. Then the Rhodanus, prevailing in turn, is carried to Vienna. Indeed, it happens that at first the three rivers flow towards the north, then towards the west; but when they have already met into one channel, the stream, taking another bend, is carried southward as far as the mouths, receiving also the other rivers, and thenceforth makes its remaining course to the sea. Such is the region between the Alps and the Rhodanus.