Geography

​The tribes situated between the Garunas and the Liger which have been assigned to the Aquitanians are, first, the Helvii, who begin their territory from the Rhodanus; next after these, the Vellavii, who were formerly annexed to the Arverni but are now ranked by themselves; then the Arverni, the Lemovices, and the Petrocorii; and besides these, the Nitiobriges, the Cadurci, and the Bituriges who are called Cubi; and near the ocean, the Santoni and the Pictones, the former dwelling along the Garunas, as we have said, and the latter along the Liger. The Ruteni and the Gabali approach near to Narbonitis. Now among the Petrocorii and the Cubi Bituriges there are excellent iron-works, among the Cadurci linen-factories, and among the Ruteni silver mines; the Gabali also have silver mines. The Romans have granted Latin rights to some of the Aquitanians also, as for instance to the Ausci and the Convenae.

​The Arverni are settled on the Liger, and their metropolis is Nemossus, situated on the river. This river, after flowing past Cenabum, the emporium of the Carnutes which is inhabited about the middle of the voyage, empties into the ocean. The Arverni offer as a great proof of their former power the fact that they repeatedly went to war with the Romans, sometimes with two hundred thousand men, and again with double that number. For they fought against the deified Caesar with that large number under Vercingetorix, and previously with two hundred thousand against Maximus Aemilianus, and likewise against Domitius Ahenobarbus. Now their struggles against Caesar took place around Gergovia, a city of the Arverni situated on a high mountain, from which came Vercingetorix, and around Alesia, a city of the Mandubii, a tribe bordering on the Arverni, this also being situated on a high hill and surrounded by mountains and two rivers, where their commander was captured and the war came to an end; but their battle against Maximus Aemilianus took place at the confluence of the Isar and the Rhodanus, where the Cemmenus Mountain approaches the Rhodanus; and that against Domitius still lower down, at the confluence of the Sulgas and the Rhodanus. The Arverni extended their empire as far as Narbo and the boundaries of Massaliotis, and they were masters of the tribes 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 in wealth and luxury that once, when making a display of his abundance to his friends, he rode on a carriage through a plain, scattering gold and silver coins here and there, so that those following him gathered them up.