Geography

​On the other side of the river, the Volcae occupy the greatest part of the country, whom they call Arecomisci. Narbo is said to be their seaport, but it might more justly be called the seaport of the rest of Celtica too, so far does it surpass in the multitude of those who use the emporium. Now, the Volcae border on the Rhodanus, having the Sallyes and the Cavares extending along opposite to them on the other side. But the name of the Cavares prevails, and people already call all the barbarians in these parts by this name, who indeed are no longer barbarians, but have for the most part conformed to the Roman customs, both in their speech and in their modes of life, and some of them even in their political constitution. There are also other small and ignoble tribes bordering on the Arecomisci as far as the Pyrenees. The metropolis of the Arecomisci is Nemausus, which, while far inferior to Narbo in respect of its foreign crowd and commercial activity, surpasses it in political status; for it has under its jurisdiction twenty-four villages of the same nation, outstanding in population, which contribute to it, and it also possesses the so-called Latin right, so that those who have been deemed worthy of the aedileship and quaestorship in Nemausus become Roman citizens; and for this reason this nation is not even under the decrees of the praetors sent from Rome. The city is situated on the road leading from Iberia to Italy, which is easy to travel in summer, but muddy and flooded by rivers in winter and spring. Some of the streams, therefore, are crossed by ferries, and others by bridges, some made of wood and others of stone. The difficulties caused by the waters are produced by the torrents, which sometimes flow down from the Alps even as late as summer, after the melting of the snows. Of the road mentioned, one part goes straight to the Alps, as we have said, which is the short route through the country of the Vocontii; while the other, through the coast of Massalia and Liguria, is longer indeed, but has easier passes into Italy, since the mountains here already become low. Nemausus is about one hundred stadia distant from the Rhodanus, at the point where there is a small town of the Tarusconi on the opposite bank, and seven hundred and twenty stadia from Narbo. Bordering on the Cemmenus mountain, and also occupying its southern side as far as the extremities, dwell those of the Volcae who are called Tectosages, and some others. Concerning the others, then, we shall speak later.