Description of Greece

​These Galatians dwell in the extreme parts of Europe on a vast sea, the boundaries of which are not navigable, and which presents tides and rough surf and monsters not at all like those in the rest of the sea; and through their country flows the river Eridanus, on the banks of which the daughters of Helios are believed to lament the fate of their brother Phaethon. It was only at a late period that the name Galatians prevailed; for of old they were called Celts both among themselves and by others. An army collected by them turned towards the Ionian Sea, and ruined the Illyrian nation, and all those who dwelt as far as the Macedonians, as well as the Macedonians themselves, and overran Thessaly. And when they came near Thermopylae, most of the Greeks remained quiet at the approach of the barbarians, inasmuch as they had been severely afflicted beforehand by Alexander and Philip; and later, Antipater and Cassander also brought down the Greek power, so that each city, on account of its weakness, deemed it no shame to withdraw its own share of assistance.

​But the Athenians especially, of all the Greeks, were exhausted by the length of the Macedonian war, and having met with failure in most of their battles, they were nevertheless eager to march out to Thermopylae with those of the Greeks who had arrived, having chosen this Callippus to lead them. Having occupied the passage where it was narrowest, they barred the barbarians from the entrance into Greece; but the Celts, having found the path which Ephialtes of Trachis once led the Medes along, and having overpowered by force the Phocians stationed upon it, crossed Mount Oete without being noticed by the Greeks.

​There indeed the Athenians showed themselves most worthy to the Greeks, defending them against the barbarians when they were surrounded on both sides; but they suffered greatly on board the ships, since the Lamian Gulf near Thermopylae is a swamp; the cause of this, in my opinion, is the warm water flowing out into the sea here. These, therefore, had a greater struggle; for taking the Greeks onto their decks, they were forced to sail through the mud with ships heavy both with armor and with men.

​These indeed were saving the Greeks in the manner described, while the Galatians, having come inside the Gates, made no account of taking the remaining small towns, but had the greatest eagerness to plunder Delphi and the treasures of the god. Against them, both the Delphians themselves and those Phocians who dwell in the cities around Parnassus drew up, and there also arrived a force of Aetolians; for the Aetolian nation was at the height of its youth at this time. And when they came to close quarters, there thunderbolts were hurled against the Galatians and rocks broken off from Parnassus, and terrifying visions of armed men stood before the barbarians; of these, they say some came from the Hyperboreans, Hyperochus and Amadocus, and the third was Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles; and from this alliance, the Delphians offer sacrifices to Pyrrhus as a hero, whereas previously they held even his tomb in dishonor, regarding him as a hostile man.

​Most of the Galatians crossed over on ships into Asia and plundered its coastal districts; but at a later time, those who held Pergamon, which of old was called Teuthrania, drove the Galatians into this land away from the sea. These then took the country beyond the Sangarius, having captured Ancyra, a city of the Phrygians, which Midas the son of Gordius had previously founded—and the anchor which Midas found was still in my time in the temple of Zeus, as well as a spring called the spring of Midas, which they say Midas mixed with wine for the capture of Silenus—; they captured this Ancyra and also Pessinus under Mount Agdistis, where they say Attis is buried.

​And the Pergamenes have spoils from the Galatians, and there is a painting containing the exploit against the Galatians. The land which the Pergamenes inhabit they say was of old sacred to the Cabiri; and they claim to be Arcadians who crossed over into Asia together with Telephus. Of their other wars, if indeed they waged any, the report has not spread to everyone; but three of their achievements are most famous: their rule over lower Asia, the retreat of the Galatians from it, and the daring deed of Telephus against the forces with Agamemnon, when the Greeks, having missed their way to Ilium, were plundering the Meian plain as if it were Trojan land. But I will return to the point from which I digressed.