§4.6.11τῶν δʼ ὑπερθέσεων τῶν ἐκ τῆς Ἰταλίας εἰς τὴν ἔξω Κελτικὴν καὶ τὴν προσάρκτιον ἡ διὰ Σαλασσῶν ἐστιν ἄγουσα ἐπὶ Λούγδουνον·
Of the passes from Italy into outer Celtica and the northern region, the one through the country of the Salassi leads to Lugdunum.
διττὴ δʼ ἐστίν, ἡ μὲν ἁμαξεύεσθαι δυναμένη διὰ μήκους πλείονος ἡ διὰ Κεντρώνων, ἡ δὲ ὀρθία καὶ στενή, σύντομος δέ, ἡ διὰ τοῦ Ποινίνου.
It is twofold: one, which can be used by wagons though it is longer, is through the country of the Centrones; the other, which is steep and narrow but short, is through the Poeninus.
τὸ δὲ Λούγδουνον ἐν μέσῳ τῆς χώρας ἐστὶν ὥσπερ ἀκρόπολις, διά τε τὰς συμβολὰς τῶν ποταμῶν καὶ διὰ τὸ ἐγγὺς εἶναι πᾶσι τοῖς μέρεσι.
Lugdunum is in the center of the country like an acropolis, both because of the confluences of the rivers and because of its proximity to all parts.
διόπερ καὶ Ἀγρίππας ἐντεῦθεν τὰς ὁδοὺς ἔτεμε, τὴν διὰ τῶν Κεμμένων ὀρῶν μέχρι Σαντόνων καὶ τῆς Ἀκυιτανίας, καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τὸν Ῥῆνον, καὶ τρίτην τὴν ἐπὶ τὸν ὠκεανόν, τὴν πρὸς Βελλοάκοις καὶ Ἀμβιανοῖς, τετάρτη δʼ ἐστὶν ἐπὶ τὴν Ναρβωνῖτιν καὶ τὴν Μασσαλιωτικὴν παραλίαν.
For this reason Agrippa also cut the roads from there: the one through the Cemmenus mountains as far as the Santones and Aquitania, the one to the Rhine, a third to the ocean, towards the Bellovaci and Ambiani, and the fourth is to Narbonentis and the Massaliotic coast.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἐν ἀριστερᾷ ἀφεῖσι τὸ Λούγδουνον καὶ τὴν ὑπερκειμένην χώραν ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ Ποινίνῳ πάλιν ἐκτροπὴ διαβάντι τὸν Ῥοδανὸν ἢ τὴν λίμνην τὴν Λημένναν εἰς τὰ Ἐλουηττίων πεδία, κἀντεῦθεν εἰς Σηκοανοὺς ὑπέρθεσις διὰ τοῦ Ἰόρα ὄρους καὶ εἰς Λίγγονας· διά τε τούτων ἐπʼ ἄμφω καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν Ῥῆνον καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν ὠκεανὸν δίοδοι σχίζονται.
There is also, for those who leave Lugdunum and the country lying above it on their left, another turn-off in the Poeninus itself, for one who has crossed the Rhodanus or Lake Leman, into the plains of the Helvetii, and from there a pass through Mount Ioras to the Sequani and to the Lingones; and through these, roads branch off in both directions, to the Rhine and to the ocean.
§4.6.12ἔτι φησὶ Πολύβιος ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ κατʼ Ἀκυληίαν μάλιστα ἐν τοῖς Ταυρίσκοις τοῖς Νωρικοῖς εὑρεθῆναι χρυσεῖον οὕτως εὐφυὲς ὥστʼ ἐπὶ δύο πόδας ἀποσύραντι τὴν ἐπιπολῆς γῆν εὐθὺς ὀρυκτὸν εὑρίσκεσθαι χρυσόν, τὸ δʼ ὄρυγμα μὴ πλειόνων ὑπάρχειν ἢ πεντεκαίδεκα ποδῶν, εἶναι δὲ τοῦ χρυσοῦ τὸν μὲν αὐτόθεν καθαρὸν κυάμου μέγεθος ἢ θέρμου, τοῦ ὀγδόου μέρους μόνον ἀφεψηθέντος, τὸν δὲ δεῖσθαι μὲν χωνείας πλείονος σφόδρα δὲ λυσιτελοῦς.
Furthermore, Polybius says that in his own time, near Aquileia, especially in the country of the Norican Taurisci, a gold mine was found so exceptionally rich that if one scraped away the surface soil for only two feet, gold was immediately found ready for digging, and the excavation was not deeper than fifteen feet. He says that some of the gold was pure from the start, about the size of a bean or a lupine, only an eighth part of it being lost in melting, while the other part required more smelting but was extremely profitable.
συνεργασαμένων δὲ τοῖς βαρβάροις τῶν Ἰταλιωτῶν ἐν διμήνῳ, παραχρῆμα τὸ χρυσίον εὐωνότερον γενέσθαι τῷ τρίτῳ μέρει καθʼ ὅλην τὴν Ἰταλίαν, αἰσθομένους δὲ τοὺς Ταυρίσκους μονοπωλεῖν ἐκβαλόντας τοὺς συνεργαζομένους.
When the Italians worked together with the barbarians for two months, immediately gold became cheaper by a third throughout the whole of Italy, but when the Taurisci perceived this, they drove out their fellow-workers and established a monopoly.
ἀλλὰ νῦν ἅπαντα τὰ χρυσεῖα ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίοις ἐστί.
But now all the gold mines are under the Romans.
κἀνταῦθα δʼ, ὥσπερ κατὰ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν, φέρουσιν οἱ ποταμοὶ χρυσοῦ ψῆγμα πρὸς τῷ ὀρυκτῷ, οὐ μέντοι τοσοῦτον.
And here too, just as in Iberia, the rivers carry gold dust in addition to that from the mines, though not in such large quantities.
ὁ δʼ αὐτὸς ἀνὴρ περὶ τοῦ μεγέθους τῶν Ἄλπεων καὶ τοῦ ὕψους λέγων παραβάλλει τὰ ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ὄρη τὰ μέγιστα, τὸ Ταΰγετον τὸ Λύκαιον Παρνασσὸν Ὄλυμπον Πήλιον Ὄσσαν, ἐν δὲ Θρᾴκῃ Αἷμον Ῥοδόπην Δούνακα·
And the same man, speaking of the size and height of the Alps, compares them with the greatest mountains in Greece, namely Taygetus, Lycaeus, Parnassus, Olympus, Pelion, Ossa, and in Thrace, Haemus, Rhodope, and Dunax.
καί φησιν ὅτι τούτων μὲν ἕκαστον μικροῦ δεῖν αὐθημερὸν εὐζώνοις ἀναβῆναι δυνατόν, αὐθημερὸν δὲ καὶ περιελθεῖν, τὰς δʼ Ἄλπεις οὐδʼ ἂν πεμπταῖος ἀναβαίη τίς·
And he says that while each of these can be ascended by active travelers in almost a single day, and can also be traversed in a single day, no one could ascend the Alps even on the fifth day.
τὸ δὲ μῆκός ἐστι δισχιλίων καὶ διακοσίων σταδίων τὸ παρῆκον παρὰ τὰ πεδία.
Their length, running along the plains, is two thousand two hundred stadia.
τέτταρας δʼ ὑπερβάσεις ὀνομάζει μόνον· διὰ Λιγύων μὲν τὴν ἔγγιστα τῷ Τυρρηνικῷ πελάγει, εἶτα τὴν διὰ Ταυρίνων ἣν Ἀννίβας διῆλθεν, εἶτα τὴν διὰ Σαλασσῶν, τετάρτην δὲ τὴν διὰ Ῥαιτῶν, ἁπάσας κρημνώδεις.
And he names only four passes: the one through the Ligurians, nearest to the Tyrrhenian sea; next, the one through the Taurini, which Hannibal crossed; next, the one through the Salassi; and fourth, the one through the Raeti, all of them steep.
λίμνας δὲ εἶναί φησιν ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι πλείους μέν, τρεῖς δὲ μεγάλας· ὧν ἡ μὲν Βήνακος ἔχει μῆκος πεντακοσίων σταδίων, πλάτος δὲ τριάκοντα, ἐκρεῖ δὲ ποταμὸς Μίγκιος· ἡ δʼ ἑξῆς Λάριος τετρακοσίων, πλάτος δὲ στενωτέρα τῆς πρότερον, ἐξίησι δὲ ποταμὸν τὸν Ἀδούαν· τρίτη δὲ Ὀυερβανὸς μῆκος ἐγγὺς τριακοσίων σταδίων, πλάτος δὲ τριάκοντα, ποταμὸν δὲ ἐξίησι μέγαν Τικῖνον·
He says there are several lakes in the mountains, but three large ones: of these, Benacus has a length of five hundred stadia and a width of thirty, and the river Mincius flows out of it; the next, Larius, has a length of four hundred stadia, but is narrower in width than the former, and empties into the river Addua; the third, Verbanus, has a length of nearly three hundred stadia and a width of thirty, and empties into the great river Ticinus.
πάντες δʼ εἰς τὸν Πάδον συρρέουσι.
All of these flow together into the Padus.
τοσαῦτα καὶ περὶ τῶν ὀρῶν ἔχομεν λέγειν τῶν Ἀλπεινῶν.
This is what we have to say about the Alpine mountains.