§4.3.3τὴν δʼ ἐπὶ τῷ Ῥήνῳ πρῶτοι τῶν ἁπάντων οἰκοῦσιν Ἐλουήττιοι, παρʼ οἷς εἰσιν αἱ πηγαὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἐν τῷ Ἀδούλᾳ ὄρει.
Of all people, the Helvetii are the first to inhabit the country along the Rhine, in whose territory are the sources of the river in Mount Adula.
τοῦτο δʼ ἐστὶ μέρος τῶν Ἄλπεων, ὅθεν καὶ ὁ Ἀδούας εἰς τἀναντία μέρη ῥεῖ τὰ πρὸς τὴν ἐντὸς Κελτικὴν καὶ πληροῖ τὴν Λάριον λίμνην, πρὸς ᾗ ἔκτισται τὸ Κῶμον, εἶτʼ ἐνθένδε εἰς τὸν Πάδον συμβάλλει, περὶ ὧν ὕστερον ἐροῦμεν.
This is a part of the Alps, from which the Adouas also flows in the opposite direction, toward the interior of Celtic land, and fills Lake Larius, near which Comum is founded, and from there flows into the Padus, of which we shall speak later.
καὶ ὁ Ῥῆνος δὲ εἰς ἕλη μεγάλα καὶ λίμνην ἀναχεῖται μεγάλην, ἧς ἐφάπτονται καὶ Ῥαιτοὶ καὶ Ὀυινδολικοὶ τῶν Ἀλπείων τινὲς καὶ τῶν ὑπεραλπείων.
The Rhine also spreads out into great marshes and a large lake, which is bordered by both the Raeti and the Vindelici, some of the Alpine and transalpine tribes.
φησὶ δὲ τὸ μῆκος αὐτοῦ σταδίων ἑξακισχιλίων Ἀσίνιος, οὐκ ἔστι δέ· ἀλλʼ ἐπʼ εὐθείας μὲν τοῦ ἡμίσους ὀλίγον ἂν ὑπερβάλλοι, τοῖς δὲ σκολιώμασι καὶ χίλιοι προστεθέντες ἱκανῶς ἂν ἔχοιεν·
Asinius says its length is six thousand stadia, but it is not so; for in a straight line it would exceed half of that only a little, and even if a thousand stadia were added for its windings, they would be sufficient.
καὶ γὰρ ὀξύς ἐστι, διὰ τοῦτο δὲ καὶ δυσγεφύρωτος καὶ διὰ πεδίων ὕπτιος φέρεται τὸ λοιπὸν καταβὰς ἀπὸ τῶν ὀρῶν· πῶς οὖν οἷόν τε μένειν ὀξὺν καὶ βίαιον, εἰ τῷ ὑπτιασμῷ προσδοίημεν καὶ σκολιότητας πολλὰς καὶ μακράς;
For it is swift, and for this reason also difficult to bridge, and after descending from the mountains, for the rest of its course it is carried flatly through plains; how then is it possible for it to remain swift and violent, if in addition to its flatness we should assume many long windings?
φησὶ δὲ καὶ δίστομον εἶναι μεμψάμενος τοὺς πλείω λέγοντας·
And he also says that it has two mouths, blaming those who say it has more.
ἐγκυκλοῦνται μὲν δή τινα χώραν ταῖς σκολιότησι καὶ οὗτος καὶ ὁ Σηκοάνας, οὐ τοσαύτην.
To be sure, both this river and the Sequanas encompass a certain amount of territory with their windings, yet not so much.
ἀμφότεροι δὲ ῥέουσιν ἐπὶ τὰς ἄρκτους ἀπὸ τῶν νοτίων μερῶν· πρόκειται δʼ αὐτῶν ἡ Βρεττανική, τοῦ μὲν Ῥήνου καὶ ἐγγύθεν ὥστε καθορᾶσθαι τὸ Κάντιον, ὅπερ ἐστὶ τὸ ἑῷον ἄκρον τῆς νήσου, τοῦ δὲ Σηκοάνα μικρὸν ἀπωτέρω· ἐνταῦθα δὲ καὶ τὸ ναυπήγιον συνεστήσατο Καῖσαρ ὁ θεὸς πλέων εἰς τὴν Βρεττανικήν.
And both flow toward the north from the southern regions; and Britain lies opposite them—so near to the Rhine indeed that Cantium, which is the eastern promontory of the island, can be seen, but a little further from the Sequanas; and here the deified Caesar also established his shipyard when sailing to Britain.
τοῦ δὲ Σηκοάνα τὸ πλεόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Ἄραρος δεχομένων τὰ φορτία μικρῷ πλέον ἐστὶν ἢ τὸ τοῦ Λίγηρος καὶ τὸ τοῦ Γαρούνα· τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ Λουγδούνου μέχρι τοῦ Σηκοάνα χιλίων σταδίων ἐστίν, ἔλαττον δʼ ἢ διπλάσιον τούτου ἀπὸ τῶν εἰσβολῶν τοῦ Ῥοδανοῦ μέχρι Λουγδούνου.
The navigable part of the Sequanas, for those who receive the cargoes from the Arar, is only a little more than that of the Liger and that of the Garouna; and the distance from Lugdunum to the Sequanas is one thousand stadia, and less than double this from the mouths of the Rhodanus to Lugdunum.
φασὶ δὲ καὶ πολυχρύσους τοὺς Ἐλουηττίους, μηδὲν μέντοι ἧττον ἐπὶ λῃστείαν τραπέσθαι τὰς τῶν Κίμβρων εὐπορίας ἰδόντας· ἀφανισθῆναι δʼ αὐτῶν τὰ δύο φῦλα τριῶν ὄντων κατὰ στρατείας.
They say that the Helvetii, though rich in gold, nevertheless turned to plunder when they saw the wealth of the Cimbri; and that two of their tribes, out of three, were wiped out in the course of their campaigns.
ὅμως δʼ ἐκ τῶν λοιπῶν τὸ τῶν ἐπιγόνων πλῆθος ἐδήλωσεν ὁ πρὸς Καίσαρα τὸν θεὸν πόλεμος, ἐν ᾧ περὶ τετταράκοντα μυριάδες σωμάτων διεφθάρησαν, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς σώζεσθαι μεθῆκεν εἰς ὀκτακισχιλίους, ὅπως μὴ τοῖς Γερμανοῖς ὁμόροις οὖσιν ἔρημον τὴν χώραν ἀφῇ.
Yet the multitude of their descendants from the remainder was demonstrated by the war against the deified Caesar, in which about four hundred thousand lives were destroyed, and he permitted the remaining eight thousand to be saved, so that he might not leave the country vacant for the Germans, who were neighbors.