§14.1.1ἡ δὲ Κελτικὴ κεῖται μὲν ἐν τῷ πρὸς τὴν ἑσπέραν καθήκοντι τῆς Εὐρώπης μέρει μεταξὺ τοῦ τε βορείου πόλου καὶ τῆς ἰσημερινῆς δύσεως·
Celtica lies in the part of Europe that slopes towards the west, between the north pole and the equatorial sunset.
τετράγωνος δὲ οὖσα τῷ σχήματι τοῖς μὲν Ἀλπείοις ὄρεσι μεγίστοις οὖσι τῶν Εὐρωπείων συνάπτει κατὰ τὰς ἀνατολάς, τοῖς δὲ Πυρρηναίοις κατὰ μεσημβρίαν τε καὶ νότον ἄνεμον, τῇ δὲ ἔξω στηλῶν Ἡρακλείων θαλάττῃ κατὰ τὰς δύσεις, τῷ δὲ Σκυθικῷ τε καὶ Θρᾳκίῳ γένει κατὰ βορέαν ἄνεμον καὶ ποταμὸν Ἴστρον, ὃς ἀπὸ τῶν Ἀλπείων καταβαίνων ὀρῶν μέγιστος τῶν τῇδε ποταμῶν καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ὑπὸ τοῖς ἄρκτοις ἤπειρον διελθὼν εἰς τὸ Ποντικὸν ἐξερεύγεται πέλαγος.
Being quadrangular in shape, it adjoins on the east the Alps, which are the greatest mountains of Europe; on the south and the direction of the south wind, the Pyrenees; on the west, the ocean outside the Pillars of Heracles; and on the north wind and the river Ister, the Scythian and Thracian peoples. This river, descending from the Alps, is the greatest of the rivers in these parts, and after flowing through the whole continent under the northern regions, empties into the Pontic Sea.
§14.1.2τοσαύτη δὲ οὖσα τὸ μέγεθος, ὅση μὴ πολὺ ἀποδεῖν τετάρτη λέγεσθαι μοῖρα τῆς Εὐρώπης, εὔυδρός τε καὶ πίειρα καὶ καρποῖς δαψιλὴς καὶ κτήνεσιν ἀρίστη νέμεσθαι, σχίζεται μέση ποταμῷ Ῥήνῳ, μεγίστῳ μετὰ τὸν Ἴστρον εἶναι δοκοῦντι τῶν κατὰ τὴν Εὐρώπην ποταμῶν.
Being of such a size as to fall not far short of being called a fourth part of Europe, well-watered, fertile, rich in crops, and excellent for grazing cattle, it is divided in its middle by the river Rhine, which is considered to be the greatest of the rivers in Europe after the Ister.
§14.1.3καλεῖται δʼ ἡ μὲν ἐπὶ τάδε τοῦ Ῥήνου Σκύθαις καὶ Θρᾳξὶν ὁμοροῦσα Γερμανία, μέχρι δρυμοῦ Ἑρκυνίου καὶ τῶν Ῥιπαίων ὀρῶν καθήκουσα, ἡ δʼ ἐπὶ θάτερα τὰ πρὸς μεσημβρίαν βλέποντα μέχρι Πυρρήνης ὄρους, ἡ τὸν Γαλατικὸν κόλπον περιλαμβάνουσα, Γαλατία τῆς θαλάττης ἐπώνυμος.
The region on this side of the Rhine, bordering on the Scythians and Thracians and extending as far as the Hercynian Forest and the Rhipaean mountains, is called Germany; while the region on the other side, looking towards the south as far as the Pyrenean mountain, which encompasses the Galatic Gulf, is called Galatia, named after that sea.
§14.1.4κοινῷ δʼ ὀνόματι ἡ σύμπασα πρὸς Ἑλλήνων καλεῖται Κελτική, ὡς μέν τινές φασιν, ἀπό τινος γίγαντος Κελτοῦ αὐτόθι δυναστεύσαντος, ἄλλοι δὲ ἐξ Ἡρακλέους καὶ Ἀστερόπης τῆς Ἀτλαντίδος δύο γενέσθαι μυθολογοῦσι παῖδας, Ἴβηρον καὶ Κελτόν, οὓς θέσθαι ταῖς χώραις, ὧν ἦρξαν ἀμφότεροι, τὰς ὀνομασίας ἀφʼ αὑτῶν.
By a common name, however, the whole country is called Celtica by the Greeks, as some say, from a certain giant Celtus who once ruled there; while others tell in myth that from Heracles and Asterope, the daughter of Atlas, two sons were born, Iberus and Celtus, who gave their own names to the lands which they both ruled.
§14.1.5οἱ δὲ ποταμὸν εἶναί τινα λέγουσι Κελτὸν ἐκ τῆς Πυρρήνης ἀναδιδόμενον, ἀφʼ οὗ πρῶτον μὲν τὴν συνεγγύς, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ τὴν ἄλλην χώραν σὺν χρόνῳ κληθῆναι Κελτικήν.
Others say that there is a certain river Celtus rising from the Pyrenees, after which first the neighboring region, and then in course of time the rest of the country, was called Celtica.
φασὶ δὲ καί τινες, ὅτι τοῖς πρώτοις Ἕλλησιν εἰς τήνδε τὴν γῆν περαιουμένοις αἱ νῆες ἀνέμῳ βιαίῳ φερόμεναι κατὰ τὸν κόλπον ἔκελσαν τὸν Γαλατικόν, οἱ δʼ ἄνδρες, ἐπειδὴ τοῦ αἰγιαλοῦ ἐλάβοντο, Κελσικὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ συμβάντος αὐτοῖς πάθους τὴν χώραν ἐκάλεσαν, ἣν ἑνὸς ἀλλαγῇ γράμματος οἱ μεταγενέστεροι Κελτικὴν ὠνόμασαν.
And some also say that when the first Greeks crossed over to this land, their ships, driven by a violent wind, ran aground in the Galatic Gulf, and the men, when they reached the shore, called the country Celsica from the accident that befell them, which those of later times named Celtica by the change of a single letter.