§5.1.11πόλεις δʼ εἰσὶν ἐντὸς τοῦ Πάδου καὶ περὶ τὸν Πάδον ἐπιφανεῖς Πλακεντία μὲν καὶ Κρεμώνη πλησιαίταται κατὰ μέσην που τὴν χώραν, μεταξὺ δὲ τούτων τε καὶ Ἀριμίνου Πάρμα καὶ Μουτίνη καὶ Βονωνία πλησίον ἤδη Ῥαουέννης καὶ μικρὰ πολίσματα ἀνὰ μέσον τούτων διʼ ὧν ἡ εἰς Ῥώμην ὁδός, Ἄγκαρα Ῥήγιον Λέπιδον Μακροὶ Κάμποι, ὅπου πανήγυρις συντελεῖται κατʼ ἔτος, Κλάτερνα Φόρον Κορνήλιον, Φαουεντία δὲ Καισήνα πρὸς τῷ Σάπι ποταμῷ καὶ τῷ Ῥουβίκωνι ἤδη συνάπτουσι τῷ Ἀριμίνῳ.
There are prominent cities on this side of the Padus and around the Padus, with Placentia and Cremona being the nearest, situated somewhere about the middle of the country; and between these and Ariminum are Parma, Mutina, and Bononia, which already approach Ravenna, and small towns between them through which the road to Rome runs: Claterna and Forum Cornelii, and then Faventia and Caesena near the Sapis River, which already connect with Ariminum at the Rubicon.
τὸ δὲ Ἀρίμινον Ὄμβρων ἐστὶ κατοικία, καθάπερ καὶ ἡ Ῥάουεννα· δέδεκται δʼ ἐποίκους Ῥωμαίους ἑκατέρα.
Ariminum is an Umbrian settlement, just like Ravenna; and each has received Roman colonists.
ἔχει δὲ τὸ Ἀρίμινον λιμένα καὶ ὁμώνυμον ποταμόν.
Ariminum has a harbor and a river of the same name.
ἀπὸ δὲ Πλακεντίας εἰς Ἀρίμινον στάδιοι χίλιοι τριακόσιοι.
From Placentia to Ariminum is one thousand three hundred stadia.
ὑπὲρ δὲ Πλακεντίας ἐπὶ μὲν τοὺς ὅρους τῆς Κοττίου γῆς Τικῖνον ἐν τριάκοντα ἓξ μιλίοις πόλις, καὶ ὁμώνυμος ὁ παραρρέων ποταμὸς συμβάλλων τῷ Πάδῳ, καὶ Κλαστίδιον καὶ Δέρθων καὶ Ἀκουαιστατιέλλαι μικρὸν ἐν παρόδῳ.
Above Placentia, towards the boundaries of the land of Cottius, is the city of Ticinum at thirty-six miles, and the river of the same name flowing past it and joining the Padus, and Clastidium, Derthon, and Aquae Statiellae a little out of the way.
ἡ δʼ εὐθεῖα εἰς Ὤκελον παρὰ τὸν Πάδον καὶ τὸν Δουρίαν ποταμὸν βαραθρώδης ἡ πολλή, πλείους καὶ ἄλλους ἔχουσα ποταμούς, ὧν καὶ τὸν Δρουεντίαν, μιλίων ἐστὶ περὶ ἑξήκοντα.
The straight road to Ocelum along the Padus and the Durias River is for the most part marshy (or full of abysses), having several other rivers to cross, among which is the Druentia, and is about sixty miles.
ἐντεῦθεν δὲ ἤδη τὰ Ἄλπεια ὄρη καὶ ἡ Κελτική.
From here on are already the Alps and Celtic territory.
ἔστι δὲ ἡ Δέρθων πόλις ἀξιόλογος κειμένη κατὰ μέσην τὴν ὁδὸν τὴν ἀπὸ Γενούας εἰς Πλακεντίαν, ἑκατέρας διέχουσα σταδίους τετρακοσίους· κατὰ δὲ ταύτην τὴν ὁδὸν καὶ Ἀκουαιστατιέλλαι.
The city of Derthon is notable, situated in the middle of the road from Genua to Placentia, distant four hundred stadia from each; and along this road is also Aquae Statiellae.
ἀπὸ δὲ Πλακεντίας εἰς μὲν Ἀρίμινον εἴρηται· εἰς δὲ Ῥάουενναν κατάπλους τῷ Πάδῳ δυεῖν ἡμερῶν καὶ νυκτῶν.
From Placentia to Ariminum has been stated; to Ravenna, the voyage down the Padus takes two days and nights.
πολὺ δὲ καὶ τῆς ἐντὸς τοῦ Πάδου κατείχετο ὑπὸ ἑλῶν, διʼ ὧν Ἀννίβας χαλεπῶς διῆλθε προϊὼν ἐπὶ Τυρρηνίαν· ἀλλʼ ἀνέψυξε τὰ πεδία ὁ Σκαῦρος διώρυγας πλωτὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ Πάδου μέχρι Πάρμης ἄγων.
A great part of the region on this side of the Padus was also occupied by marshes, through which Hannibal passed with difficulty when proceeding to Tyrrhenia; but Scaurus drained the plains by leading navigable canals from the Padus as far as Parma.
κατὰ γὰρ Πλακεντίαν ὁ Τρεβίας συμβάλλων τῷ Πάδῳ καὶ ἔτι πρότερον ἄλλοι πλείους πληροῦσι πέραν τοῦ μετρίου.
For near Placentia, the Trebias joining the Padus, and even before that several others, fill it beyond measure.
οὗτος δὲ ὁ Σκαῦρος ἐστὶν ὁ καὶ τὴν Αἰμιλίαν ὁδὸν στρώσας τὴν διὰ Πισῶν καὶ Λούνης μέχρι Σαβάτων κἀντεῦθεν διὰ Δέρθωνος· ἄλλη δʼ ἐστὶν Αἰμιλία διαδεχομένη τὴν Φλαμινίαν.
This Scaurus is the one who also paved the Aemilian Way through Pisae and Luna as far as Sabata and thence through Derthon; but there is another Aemilian Way which succeeds the Flaminian.
συνυπάτευσαν γὰρ ἀλλήλοις Μάρκος Λέπιδος καὶ Γάιος Φλαμίνιος· καθελόντες δὲ Λίγυας ὁ μὲν τὴν Φλαμινίαν ἔστρωσεν ἐκ Ῥώμης διὰ Τυρρηνῶν καὶ τῆς Ὀμβρικῆς μέχρι τῶν περὶ Ἀρίμινον τόπων, ὁ δὲ τὴν ἑξῆς μέχρι Βονωνίας κἀκεῖθεν εἰς Ἀκυληίαν παρὰ τὰς ῥίζας τὰς τῶν Ἄλπεων ἐγκυκλούμενος τὰ ἕλη.
For Marcus Lepidus and Gaius Flaminius were colleagues in the consulship; and having subdued the Ligurians, the one paved the Flaminian Way from Rome through Tyrrhenia and Umbria as far as the regions around Ariminum, while the other paved the next road as far as Bononia, and thence to Aquileia along the foothills of the Alps, encircling the marshes.
ὅριον δὲ τῆς χώρας ταύτης, ἣν ἐντὸς Κελτικὴν καλοῦμεν, πρὸς τὴν λοιπὴν Ἰταλίαν τό τε Ἀπέννινον ὄρος τὸ ὑπὲρ τῆς Τυρρηνίας ἀπεδέδεικτο καὶ ὁ Αἶσις ποταμός, ὕστερον δὲ ὁ Ῥουβίκων, εἰς τὸν Ἀδρίαν ἐκδιδόντες ἀμφότεροι.
And the boundary of this country, which we call Celtic on this side, towards the rest of Italy, was designated as the Apennine mountain above Tyrrhenia and the Aesis River, and later the Rubicon, both emptying into the Adriatic.
§5.1.12τῆς δʼ ἀρετῆς τῶν τόπων τεκμήριον ἥ τʼ εὐανδρία καὶ τὰ μεγέθη τῶν πόλεων καὶ ὁ πλοῦτος, οἷς πᾶσιν ὑπερβέβληνται τὴν ἄλλην Ἰταλίαν οἱ ταύτῃ Ῥωμαῖοι.
As testimony of the excellence of these places, there are both the large population and the sizes of the cities and the wealth, in all of which the Romans of this region have surpassed the rest of Italy.
καὶ γὰρ ἡ γεωργουμένη γῆ πολλοὺς καὶ παντοίους ἐκφέρει καρπούς, καὶ αἱ ὗλαι τοσαύτην ἔχουσι βάλανον ὥστʼ ἐκ τῶν ἐντεῦθεν ὑοφορβίων ἡ Ῥώμη τρέφεται τὸ πλέον.
For the cultivated land produces many and varied crops, and the forests have so many acorns that Rome is fed for the most part from the herds of swine sent from here.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ κεγχροφόρος διαφερόντως διὰ τὴν εὐυδρίαν· τοῦτο δὲ λιμοῦ μέγιστόν ἐστιν ἄκος· πρὸς ἅπαντας γὰρ καιροὺς ἀέρων ἀντέχει καὶ οὐδέποτʼ ἐπιλείπειν δύναται, κἂν τοῦ ἄλλου σίτου γένηται σπάνις.
It is also exceptionally productive of millet because of the abundance of water; and this is the greatest remedy against famine, for it resists all conditions of the weather and can never fail, even if there is a scarcity of other grain.
ἔχει δὲ καὶ πιττουργεῖα θαυμαστά.
It also has wonderful pitch-works.
τοῦ δʼ οἴνου τὸ πλῆθος μηνύουσιν οἱ πίθοι· ξύλινοι γὰρ μείζους οἴκων εἰσί· προσλαμβάνει δὲ πολὺ ἡ τῆς πίττης εὐπορία πρὸς τὸ εὐκώνητον.
The abundance of wine is indicated by the jars, for the wooden ones are larger than houses; and the abundance of pitch contributes greatly to making it cheap.
ἐρέαν δὲ τὴν μὲν μαλακὴν οἱ περὶ Μουτίνην τόποι καὶ τὸν Σκουλτάνναν ποταμὸν φέρουσι πολὺ πασῶν καλλίστην, τὴν δὲ τραχεῖαν ἡ Λιγυστικὴ καὶ ἡ τῶν Ἰνσούβρων, ἐξ ἧς τὸ πλέον τῆς οἰκετείας τῶν Ἰταλιωτῶν ἀμπέχεται, τὴν δὲ μέσην οἱ περὶ Πατάουιον, ἐξ ἧς οἱ τάπητες οἱ πολυτελεῖς καὶ γαυσάπαι καὶ τὸ τοιοῦτον εἶδος πᾶν, ἀμφίμαλλόν τε καὶ ἑτερόμαλλον.
As for wool, the places around Mutina and the Scultanna River produce the soft wool, which is by far the finest of all; and the Ligurian and the Insubrian territories produce the coarse wool, from which the greater part of the households of the Italians is clothed; and the places around Patavium produce the medium wool, from which are made the expensive carpets and gausapae and all such kinds of products, both shaggy on both sides and shaggy on one side.
τὰ δὲ μέταλλα νυνὶ μὲν οὐχ ὁμοίως ἐνταῦθα σπουδάζεται διὰ τὸ λυσιτελέστερα ἴσως εἶναι τὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑπεραλπείοις Κελτοῖς καὶ τῇ Ἰβηρίᾳ, πρότερον δὲ ἐσπουδάζετο, ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐν Ὀυερκέλλοις χρυσωρυχεῖον ἦν· κώμη δʼ ἐστὶ πλησίον Ἰκτουμούλων, καὶ ταύτης κώμης, ἄμφω δʼ εἰσὶ περὶ Πλακεντίαν.
The mines are not equally prized here now, because those among the transalpine Celts and in Iberia are perhaps more profitable, but formerly they were prized, since there was also a gold mine in Vercellae; and there is a village near Ictumuli, and of this village, both being around Placentia.
αὕτη μὲν δὴ ἡ πρώτη μερὶς τῆς Ἰταλίας μέχρι δεῦρο περιωδεύσθω.
Now, let this first part of Italy be circuited up to this point.