Geography

​After the tribes mentioned, the rest are the tribes of the Belgae along the ocean, of whom the Veneti are those who fought the sea battle against Caesar; for they were ready to prevent the voyage to Britain, making use of their trade-station. But he defeated them in the sea battle easily, not by making use of rams (for the timbers were thick), but as they were being carried toward him by the wind, the Romans dragged down their sails with pole-harpoons; for the sails were made of leather because of the violence of the winds, and they stretched chains instead of cables. They build their ships flat-bottomed, high-sterned, and high-prowed because of the ebb-tides, using oak timber, of which there is an abundance. Therefore, they do not bring the joints of the planks close together, but leave gaps; and these they pack with moss, so that during the hauling up of the ships, the timber, not being moistened, may not become parched and brittle, since the moss is by nature rather moist, while the oak is dry and without fat. I believe that these Veneti are the colonists of those on the Adriatic; for almost all the other Celts in Italy migrated from the land beyond the Alps, just like the Boii and the Senones; but because of the identity of name, people say they are Paphlagonians. I say this without asserting it; for in such matters, probability is sufficient. There are also the Osismii, whom Pytheas calls Timii, dwelling upon a certain peninsula which projects considerably into the ocean, though not to such an extent as he says and those who have believed him. Of the tribes between the Sequanas and the Liger, some border on the Sequani, and others on the Arverni.

​The whole race which is now called both Gallic and Galatic is war-mad, high-spirited, and quick for battle, but otherwise simple and not ill-natured. Because of this, when provoked, they come together in a body for contests, both openly and without circumspection, so that they also become easy to handle for those who wish to out-general them; for indeed, whenever one wishes, and wherever, and on whatever pretext happens to occur, if someone provokes them, he finds them ready for danger, having nothing to help them in their struggle except force and daring. But when persuaded, they easily yield to what is useful, so as even to apply themselves to education and philosophy. Part of their force comes from their bodies, which are large, and part from their numbers; and they come together in numbers easily because of their simplicity and straightforwardness, as their neighbors always join in the indignation of those who seem to be wronged. Now, indeed, they are all at peace, having been enslaved and living according to the commands of the Romans who took them; but we obtain this account of them from ancient times, and from the customs that remain among the Germans up to the present. For both by nature and in their institutions these peoples are similar and akin to one another, and they inhabit a neighboring country which is divided by the river Rhine and is very similar in most respects. But Germany is more northerly, if the southern parts are judged in comparison with the southern, and the northerly with the northerly. For this reason, it also happens that their migrations take place easily, as they move in herds and with their whole army, or rather even setting out with their entire households, whenever they are driven out by others who are stronger. The Romans subdued these people much more easily than the Iberians; for indeed they began earlier and ceased later in waging war against those, but these they destroyed all of them in the intervening time, all those between the Rhine and the Pyrenees mountains. For since they fell upon the enemy in a body and in numbers, they were destroyed in a body, but those other people hoarded and economized their struggles, fighting in a guerrilla-like manner, different ones at different times and in different parts. Now indeed they are all warriors by nature, but they are better as horsemen than as foot-soldiers, and the best of the cavalry for the Romans comes from these. And always those who are more northerly and along the ocean are more warlike.