§1.4.1οἱ δὲ Γαλάται οὗτοι νέμονται τῆς Εὐρώπης τὰ ἔσχατα ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ πολλῇ καὶ ἐς τὰ πέρατα οὐ πλωίμῳ, παρέχεται δὲ ἄμπωτιν καὶ ῥαχίαν καὶ θηρία οὐδὲν ἐοικότα τοῖς ἐν θαλάσσῃ τῇ λοιπῇ· καί σφισι διὰ τῆς χώρας ῥεῖ ποταμὸς Ἠριδανός, ἐφʼ ᾧ τὰς θυγατέρας τὰς Ἡλίου ὀδύρεσθαι νομίζουσι τὸ περὶ τὸν Φαέθοντα τὸν ἀδελφὸν πάθος.
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.
ὀψὲ δέ ποτε αὐτοὺς καλεῖσθαι Γαλάτας ἐξενίκησεν· Κελτοὶ γὰρ κατά τε σφᾶς τὸ ἀρχαῖον καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὠνομάζοντο.
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.
συλλεγεῖσα δέ σφισι στρατιὰ τρέπεται τὴν ἐπὶ Ἰονίου, καὶ τό τε Ἰλλυριῶν ἔθνος καὶ πᾶν ὅσον ἄχρι Μακεδόνων ᾤκει καὶ Μακεδόνας αὐτοὺς ἀναστάτους ἐποίησε Θεσσαλίαν τε ἐπέδραμε.
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.
καὶ ὡς ἐγγὺς Θερμοπυλῶν ἐγίνοντο, ἐνταῦθα οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐς τὴν ἔφοδον ἡσύχαζον τῶν βαρβάρων, ἅτε ὑπὸ Ἀλεξάνδρου μεγάλως καὶ Φιλίππου κακωθέντες πρότερον· καθεῖλε δὲ καὶ Ἀντίπατρος καὶ Κάσσανδρος ὕστερον τὸ Ἑλληνικόν, ὥστε ἕκαστοι διʼ ἀσθένειαν οὐδὲν αἰσχρὸν ἐνόμιζον ἀπεῖναι τὸ κατὰ σφᾶς τῆς βοηθείας.
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.
§1.4.2Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ μάλιστα μὲν τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀπειρήκεσαν μήκει τοῦ Μακεδονικοῦ πολέμου καὶ προσπταίοντες τὰ πολλὰ ἐν ταῖς μάχαις, ἐξιέναι δὲ ὅμως ὥρμηντο ἐς τὰς Θερμοπύλας σὺν τοῖς ἐλθοῦσι τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ἑλόμενοι σφίσι τὸν Κάλλιππον τοῦτον ἡγεῖσθαι.
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.
καταλαβόντες δὲ ᾗ στενώτατον ἦν, τῆς ἐσόδου τῆς ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα εἶργον τοὺς βαρβάρους· ἀνευρόντες δὲ οἱ Κελτοὶ τὴν ἀτραπόν, ἣν καὶ Μήδοις ποτὲ Ἐφιάλτης ἡγήσατο ὁ Τραχίνιος, καὶ βιασάμενοι Φωκέων τοὺς τεταγμένους ἐπʼ αὐτῇ λανθάνουσι τοὺς Ἕλληνας ὑπερβαλόντες τὴν Οἴτην.
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.
§1.4.3ἔνθα δὴ πλείστου παρέσχοντο αὑτοὺς Ἀθηναῖοι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἀξίους, ἀμφοτέρωθεν ὡς ἐκυκλώθησαν ἀμυνόμενοι τοὺς βαρβάρους· οἱ δέ σφισιν ἐπὶ τῶν νεῶν μάλιστα ἐταλαιπώρουν ἅτε τοῦ κόλπου τοῦ Λαμιακοῦ τέλματος πρὸς ταῖς Θερμοπύλαις ὄντος· αἴτιον δὲ ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν τὸ ὕδωρ ταύτῃ τὸ θερμὸν ἐκρέον ἐς τὴν θάλασσαν.
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.
μείζονα οὖν εἶχον οὗτοι πόνον· ἀναλαβόντες γὰρ ἐπὶ τὰ καταστρώματα τοὺς Ἕλληνας ναυσὶν ὑπό τε ὅπλων βαρείαις καὶ ἀνδρῶν ἐβιάζοντο κατὰ τοῦ πηλοῦ πλεῖν.
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.
§1.4.4οὗτοι μὲν δὴ τοὺς Ἕλληνας τρόπον τὸν εἰρημένον ἔσωζον, οἱ δὲ Γαλάται Πυλῶν τε ἐντὸς ἦσαν καὶ τὰ πολίσματα ἑλεῖν ἐν οὐδενὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ποιησάμενοι Δελφοὺς καὶ τὰ χρήματα. τοῦ θεοῦ διαρπάσαι μάλιστα εἶχον σπουδήν.
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.
καί σφισιν αὐτοί τε Δελφοὶ καὶ Φωκέων ἀντετάχθησαν οἱ τὰς πόλεις περὶ τὸν Παρνασσὸν οἰκοῦντες, ἀφίκετο δὲ καὶ δύναμις Αἰτωλῶν· τὸ γὰρ Αἰτωλικὸν προεῖχεν ἀκμῇ νεότητος τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον.
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.
ὡς δὲ ἐς χεῖρας συνῄεσαν, ἐνταῦθα κεραυνοί τε ἐφέροντο ἐς τοὺς Γαλάτας καὶ ἀπορραγεῖσαι πέτραι τοῦ Παρνασσοῦ, δείματά τε ἄνδρες ἐφίσταντο ὁπλῖται τοῖς βαρβάροις· τούτων τοὺς μὲν ἐξ Ὑπερβορέων λέγουσιν ἐλθεῖν, Ὑπέροχον καὶ Ἀμάδοκον, τὸν δὲ τρίτον Πύρρον εἶναι τὸν Ἀχιλλέως· ἐναγίζουσι δὲ ἀπὸ ταύτης Δελφοὶ τῆς συμμαχίας Πύρρῳ, πρότερον ἔχοντες ἅτε ἀνδρὸς πολεμίου καὶ τὸ μνῆμα ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ.
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.
§1.4.5Γαλατῶν δὲ οἱ πολλοὶ ναυσὶν ἐς τὴν Ἀσίαν διαβάντες τὰ παραθαλάσσια αὐτῆς ἐλεηλάτουν· χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον οἱ Πέργαμον ἔχοντες, πάλαι δὲ Τευθρανίαν καλουμένην, ἐς ταύτην Γαλάτας ἐλαύνουσιν ἀπὸ θαλάσσης.
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.
οὗτοι μὲν δὴ τὴν ἐκτὸς Σαγγαρίου χώραν ἔσχον Ἄγκυραν πόλιν ἑλόντες Φρυγῶν, ἣν Μίδας ὁ Γορδίου πρότερον ᾤκισεν—ἄγκυρα δέ, ἣν ὁ Μίδας ἀνεῦρεν, ἦν ἔτι καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἐν ἱερῷ Διὸς καὶ κρήνη Μίδου καλουμένη· ταύτην οἴνῳ κεράσαι Μίδαν φασὶν ἐπὶ τὴν θήραν τοῦ Σιληνοῦ—, ταύτην τε δὴ τὴν Ἄγκυραν εἷλον καὶ Πεσσινοῦντα τὴν ὑπὸ τὸ ὄρος τὴν Ἄγδιστιν, ἔνθα καὶ τὸν Ἄττην τεθάφθαι λέγουσι.
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.
§1.4.6Περγαμηνοῖς δὲ ἔστι μὲν σκῦλα ἀπὸ Γαλατῶν, ἔστι δὲ γραφὴ τὸ ἔργον τὸ πρὸς Γαλάτας ἔχουσα.
And the Pergamenes have spoils from the Galatians, and there is a painting containing the exploit against the Galatians.
ἣν δὲ νέμονται οἱ Περγαμηνοί, Καβείρων ἱεράν φασιν εἶναι τὸ ἀρχαῖον· αὐτοὶ δὲ Ἀρκάδες ἐθέλουσιν εἶναι τῶν ὁμοῦ Τηλέφῳ διαβάντων ἐς τὴν Ἀσίαν.
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.
πολέμων δὲ τῶν μὲν ἄλλων, εἰ δή τινας ἐπολέμησαν, οὐκ ἐς ἅπαντας κεχώρηκεν ἡ φήμη· τρία δὲ γνωριμώτατα ἐξείργασταί σφισι, τῆς τε Ἀσίας ἀρχὴ τῆς κάτω καὶ ἡ Γαλατῶν ἀπʼ αὐτῆς ἀναχώρησις καὶ τὸ ἐς τοὺς σὺν Ἀγαμέμνονι Τηλέφου τόλμημα, ὅτε Ἕλληνες ἁμαρτόντες Ἰλίου τὸ πεδίον ἐλεηλάτουν τὸ Μήιον ὡς γῆν Τρῳάδα.
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.
ἐπάνειμι δὲ ἐς τὴν ἀρχὴν ὅθεν ἐξέβην τοῦ λόγου.
But I will return to the point from which I digressed.