13. We must now return to Hasdrubal in Iberia. He had during this period been conducting his command with ability and success, and had not only given in general a great impulse to the Carthaginian interests there, but in particular had greatly strengthened them by the fortification of the town, variously called Carthage, and New Town, the situation of which was exceedingly convenient for operations in Libya as well as in Iberia. I shall take a more suitable opportunity of speaking of the site of this town, and pointing out the advantages offered by it to both countries: I must at present speak of the impression made by Hasdrubal’s policy at Rome. Seeing him strengthening the Carthaginian influence in Spain, and rendering it continually more formidable, the Romans were anxious to interfere in the politics of that country. They discovered, as they thought, that they had allowed their suspicions to be lulled to sleep, and had meanwhile given the Carthaginians the opportunity of consolidating their power. They did not venture, however, at the moment to impose conditions or make war on them, because they were in almost daily dread of an attack from the Celts. They determined therefore to mollify Hasdrubal by gentle measures, and to leave themselves free to attack the Celts first and try conclusions with them: for they were convinced that, with such enemies on their flank, they would not only be unable to keep their hold over the rest of Italy, but even to reckon on safety in their own city. Accordingly, while sending envoys to Hasdrubal, and making a treaty with him by which the Carthaginians, without saying anything of the rest of Iberia, engaged not to cross the Iber in arms, they pushed on the war with the Celts in Italy.
13. Ἀσδρούβας δὲ κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους — ἐν γὰρ τούτοις ἀπελίπομεν τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν — νουνεχῶς καὶ πραγματικῶς χειρίζων τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔν τε τοῖς ὅλοις μεγάλην ἐποιεῖτο προκοπήν, τήν τε παρὰ μὲν τισὶ Καρχηδόνα, παρὰ δὲ τισὶ Καινὴν πόλιν προσαγορευομένην κατασκευάσας οὐ μικρά, μεγάλα δὲ συνεβάλλετο Καρχηδονίοις εἰς πραγμάτων λόγον, καὶ μάλιστα διὰ τὴν εὐκαιρίαν τοῦ τόπου πρός τε τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν πράγματα καὶ πρὸς τὰ κατὰ τὴν Λιβύην, περὶ ἧς ἡμεῖς εὐφυέστερον καιρὸν λαβόντες ὑποδείξομεν τὴν θέσιν αὐτῆς καὶ τὴν χρείαν, ἣν ἀμφοτέραις δύναται παρέχεσθαι ταῖς εἰρημέναις χώραις. ὃν καὶ θεωροῦντες Ῥωμαῖοι μείζω καὶ φοβερωτέραν ἤδη συνιστάμενον δυναστείαν, ὥρμησαν ἐπὶ τὸ πολυπραγμονεῖν τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν. εὑρόντες δὲ σφᾶς ἐπικεκοιμημένους ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν χρόνοις καὶ προειμένους εἰς τὸ μεγάλην χεῖρα κατασκευάσασθαι Καρχηδονίους, ἀνατρέχειν ἐπειρῶντο κατὰ δύναμιν. αὐτόθεν μὲν οὖν ἐπιτάττειν ἢ πολεμεῖν οὐ κατετόλμων τοῖς Καρχηδονίοις διὰ τὸ τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν Κελτῶν φόβον ἐπικρέμασθαι τοῖς σφετέροις πράγμασιν καὶ μόνον οὐ καθʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν προσδοκᾶν τὴν ἔφοδον αὐτῶν. καταψήσαντες δὲ καὶ πραΰναντες τὸν Ἀσδρούβαν, οὕτως ἔκριναν ἐγχειρεῖν τοῖς Κελτοῖς καὶ διακινδυνεύειν πρὸς αὐτούς, οὐδέποτʼ ἂν ὑπολαμβάνοντες οὐχ οἷον δυναστεῦσαι τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἀσφαλῶς οἰκῆσαι τὴν ἑαυτῶν πατρίδα, τούτους ἔχοντες ἐφέδρους τοὺς ἄνδρας. διόπερ ἅμα τῷ διαπρεσβευσάμενοι πρὸς τὸν Ἀσδρούβαν ποιήσασθαι συνθήκας, ἐν αἷς τὴν μὲν ἄλλην Ἰβηρίαν παρεσιώπων, τὸν δὲ καλούμενον Ἴβηρα ποταμὸν οὐκ ἔδει Καρχηδονίους ἐπὶ πολέμῳ διαβαίνειν, εὐθέως ἐξήνεγκαν τὸν πρὸς τοὺς κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν Κελτοὺς πόλεμον.
14. This war itself I shall treat only summarily, to avoid breaking the thread of my history; but I must go back somewhat in point of time, and refer to the period at which these tribes originally occupied their districts in Italy. For the story I think is worth knowing for its own sake, and must absolutely be kept in mind, if we wish to understand what tribes and districts they were on which Hannibal relied to assist him in his bold design of destroying the Roman dominion. I will first describe the country in which they live, its nature, and its relation to the rest of Italy; for if we clearly understand its peculiarities, geographical and natural, we shall be better able to grasp the salient points in the history of the war. Italy, taken as a whole, is a triangle, of which the eastern side is bounded by the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic Gulf, its southern and western sides by the Sicilian and Tyrrhenian seas; these two sides converge to form the apex of the triangle, which is represented by the southern promontory of Italy called Cocinthus, and which separates the Ionian from the Sicilian Sea. The third side, or base of this triangle, is on the north, and is formed by the chain of the Alps stretching right across the country, beginning at Marseilles and the coast of the Sardinian Sea, and with no break in its continuity until within a short distance of the head of the Adriatic. To the south of this range, which I said we must regard as the base of the triangle, are the most northerly plains of Italy, the largest and most fertile of any with which I am acquainted in all Europe. This is the district with which we are at present concerned. Taken as a whole, it too forms a triangle, the apex of which is the point where the Apennines and Alps converge, above Marseilles, and not far from the coast of the Sardinian Sea. The northern side of this triangle is formed by the Alps, extending for 2200 stades; the southern by the Apennines, extending 3600; and the base is the seaboard of the Adriatic, from the town of Sena to the head of the gulf, a distance of more than 2500 Stades. The total length of the three sides will thus be nearly 10,000 stades.
14. ὑπὲρ ὧν δοκεῖ μοι χρήσιμον εἶναι κεφαλαιώδη μὲν ποιήσασθαι τὴν ἐξήγησιν, ἵνα τὸ τῆς προκατασκευῆς οἰκεῖον συσσώσωμεν κατὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς πρόθεσιν, ἀναδραμεῖν δὲ τοῖς χρόνοις ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχήν, ἐξ ὅτου κατέσχον οἱ προειρημένοι τὴν χώραν· ἡγοῦμαι γὰρ τὴν περὶ αὐτῶν ἱστορίαν οὐ μόνον ἀξίαν εἶναι γνώσεως καὶ μνήμης, ἀλλὰ καὶ τελέως ἀναγκαίαν χάριν τοῦ μαθεῖν τίσι μετὰ ταῦτα πιστεύσας ἀνδράσι καὶ τόποις Ἀννίβας ἐπεβάλετο καταλύειν τὴν Ῥωμαίων δυναστείαν. πρῶτον δὲ περὶ τῆς χώρας ῥητέον ποία τίς ἐστιν καὶ πῶς κεῖται πρὸς τὴν ἄλλην Ἰταλίαν. οὕτως γὰρ ἔσται καὶ τὰ περὶ τὰς πράξεις διαφέροντα κατανοεῖν βέλτιον, ὑπογραφέντων τῶν περί τε τοὺς τόπους καὶ τὴν χώραν ἰδιωμάτων. τῆς δὴ συμπάσης Ἰταλίας τῷ σχήματι τριγωνοειδοῦς ὑπαρχούσης, τὴν μὲν μίαν ὁρίζει πλευρὰν αὐτῆς τὴν πρὸς τὰς ἀνατολὰς κεκλιμένην ὅ τʼ Ἰόνιος πόρος καὶ κατὰ τὸ συνεχὲς ὁ κατὰ τὸν Ἀδρίαν κόλπος, τὴν δὲ πρὸς μεσημβρίαν καὶ δυσμὰς τετραμμένην τὸ Σικελικὸν καὶ Τυρρηνικὸν πέλαγος. αὗται δʼ αἱ πλευραὶ συμπίπτουσαι πρὸς ἀλλήλας κορυφὴν ποιοῦσι τοῦ τριγώνου τὸ προκείμενον ἀκρωτήριον τῆς Ἰταλίας εἰς τὴν μεσημβρίαν, ὃ προσαγορεύεται μὲν Κόκυνθος, διαιρεῖ δὲ τὸν Ἰόνιον πόρον καὶ τὸ Σικελικὸν πέλαγος. τὴν δὲ λοιπὴν τὴν παρά τε τὰς ἄρκτους καὶ τὴν μεσόγαιαν παρατείνουσαν ὁρίζει κατὰ τὸ συνεχὲς ἡ τῶν Ἄλπεων παρώρεια, λαμβάνουσα τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ Μασσαλίας καὶ τῶν ὑπὲρ τὸ Σαρδῷον πέλαγος τόπων, παρήκουσα δὲ συνεχῶς μέχρι πρὸς τὸν τοῦ παντὸς Ἀδρίου μυχόν, πλὴν βραχέος, ὃ προκαταλήγουσα λείπει τοῦ μὴ συνάπτειν αὐτῷ. παρὰ δὲ τὴν προειρημένην παρώρειαν, ἣν δεῖ νοεῖν ὡσανεὶ βάσιν τοῦ τριγώνου, παρὰ ταύτην ἀπὸ μεσημβρίας ὑπόκειται πεδία τῆς συμπάσης Ἰταλίας τελευταῖα πρὸς τὰς ἄρκτους, ὑπὲρ ὧν ὁ νῦν δὴ λόγος, ἀρετῇ καὶ μεγέθει διαφέροντα τῶν κατὰ τὴν Εὐρώπην, ὅσα πέπτωκεν ὑπὸ τὴν ἡμετέραν ἱστορίαν. ἔστι δὲ τὸ μὲν ὅλον εἶδος καὶ τῆς ταῦτα τὰ πεδία περιγραφούσης γραμμῆς τριγωνοειδές. τούτου δὲ τοῦ σχήματος τὴν μὲν κορυφὴν ἥ τε τῶν Ἀπεννίνων καλουμένων ὀρῶν καὶ τῶν Ἀλπεινῶν σύμπτωσις οὐ μακρὰν ἀπὸ τοῦ Σαρδῴου πελάγους ὑπὲρ Μασσαλίας ἀποτελεῖ. τῶν δὲ πλευρῶν παρὰ μὲν τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἄρκτων, ὡς ἐπάνω προεῖπον, τὰς Ἄλπεις αὐτὰς ἐπὶ δισχιλίους καὶ διακοσίους σταδίους παρήκειν συμβαίνει, παρὰ δὲ τὴν ἀπὸ μεσημβρίας τὸν Ἀπεννῖνον ἐπὶ τρισχιλίους ἑξακοσίους. βάσεώς γε μὴν τάξιν λαμβάνει τοῦ παντὸς σχήματος ἡ παραλία τοῦ κατὰ τὸν Ἀδρίαν κόλπου· τὸ δὲ μέγεθος τῆς βάσεώς ἐστιν ἀπὸ πόλεως Σήνης ἕως ἐπὶ τὸν μυχὸν ὑπὲρ τοὺς δισχιλίους σταδίους καὶ πεντακοσίους, ὥστε τὴν πᾶσαν περίμετρον τῶν προειρημένων πεδίων μὴ πολὺ λείπειν τῶν μυρίων σταδίων.
15. The yield of corn in this district is so abundant that wheat is often sold at four obols a Sicilian medimnus, barley at two, or a metretes of wine for an equal measure of barley. The quantity of panic and millet produced is extraordinary; and the amount of acorns grown in the oak forests scattered about the country may be gathered from the fact that, though nowhere are more pigs slaughtered than in Italy, for sacrifices as well as for family use, and for feeding the army, by far the most important supply is form these plains. The cheapness and abundance of all articles of food may also be clearly shown from the fact that travellers in these parts, when stopping at inns, do not bargain for particular articles, but simply ask what the charge is per head for board. And for the most part the innkeepers are content to supply their guests with every necessary at a charge rarely exceeding half an as (that is, the fourth part of an obol) a day each. Of the numbers, stature, and personal beauty of the inhabitants, and still more of their bravery in war, we shall be able to satisfy ourselves from the facts of their history.
15. περί γε μὴν τῆς ἀρετῆς οὐδʼ εἰπεῖν ῥᾴδιον. σίτου τε γὰρ τοσαύτην ἀφθονίαν ὑπάρχειν συμβαίνει κατὰ τοὺς τόπους ὥστʼ ἐν τοῖς καθʼ ἡμᾶς καιροῖς πολλάκις τεττάρων ὀβολῶν εἶναι τῶν πυρῶν τὸν Σικελικὸν μέδιμνον, τῶν δὲ κριθῶν δυεῖν, τοῦ δʼ οἴνου τὸν μετρητὴν ἰσόκριθον. ἐλύμου γε μὴν καὶ κέγχρου τελέως ὑπερβάλλουσα δαψίλεια γίνεται παρʼ αὐτοῖς. τὸ δὲ τῶν βαλάνων πλῆθος τὸ γινόμενον ἐκ τῶν κατὰ διάστημα δρυμῶν ἐν τοῖς πεδίοις ἐκ τούτων ἄν τις μάλιστα τεκμήραιτο· πλείστων γὰρ ὑϊκῶν ἱερείων κοπτομένων ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ διά τε τὰς εἰς τοὺς ἰδίους βίους καὶ τὰς εἰς τὰ στρατόπεδα παραθέσεις, τὴν ὁλοσχερεστάτην χορηγίαν ἐκ τούτων συμβαίνει τῶν πεδίων αὐτοῖς ὑπάρχειν. περὶ δὲ τῆς κατὰ μέρος εὐωνίας καὶ δαψιλείας τῶν πρὸς τὴν τροφὴν ἀνηκόντων οὕτως ἄν τις ἀκριβέστατα κατανοήσειεν· ποιοῦνται γὰρ τὰς καταλύσεις οἱ διοδεύοντες τὴν χώραν ἐν τοῖς πανδοκείοις, οὐ συμφωνοῦντες περὶ τῶν κατὰ μέρος ἐπιτηδείων, ἀλλʼ ἐρωτῶντες πόσου τὸν ἄνδρα δέχεται. ὡς μὲν οὖν ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ παρίενται τοὺς καταλύτας οἱ πανδοκεῖς, ὡς ἱκανὰ πάντʼ ἔχειν τὰ πρὸς τὴν χρείαν, ἡμιασσαρίου· τοῦτο δʼ ἔστι τέταρτον μέρος ὀβολοῦ· σπανίως δὲ τοῦθʼ ὑπερβαίνουσι. τό γε μὴν πλῆθος τῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ τὸ μέγεθος καὶ κάλλος τῶν σωμάτων, ἔτι δὲ τὴν ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις τόλμαν ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν πράξεων σαφῶς ἔσται καταμαθεῖν. τῶν δʼ Ἄλπεων ἑκατέρας τῆς πλευρᾶς, τῆς ἐπὶ τὸν Ῥοδανὸν ποταμὸν καὶ τῆς ἐπὶ τὰ προειρημένα πεδία νευούσης, τοὺς βουνώδεις καὶ γεώδεις τόπους κατοικοῦσι τοὺς μὲν ἐπὶ τὸν Ῥοδανὸν καὶ τὰς ἄρκτους ἐστραμμένους Γαλάται Τρανσαλπῖνοι προσαγορευόμενοι, τοὺς δʼ ἐπὶ τὰ πεδία Ταυρίσκοι καὶ Ἄγωνες καὶ πλείω γένη βαρβάρων ἕτερα. Τρανσαλπῖνοί γε μὴν οὐ διὰ τὴν τοῦ γένους, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν τοῦ τόπου διαφορὰν προσαγορεύονται· τὸ γὰρ τρὰνς ἐξερμηνευόμενόν ἐστι πέραν, διὸ τοὺς ἐπέκεινα τῶν Ἄλπεων Τρανσαλπίνους καλοῦσι. τὰ δʼ ἄκρα διά τε τὴν τραχύτητα καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῆς ἐπι μενούσης ἀεὶ χιόνος ἀοίκητα τελέως ἐστίν.
16. Such parts of both slopes of the Alps as are not too rocky or too precipitous are inhabited by different tribes; those on the north towards the Rhone by the Gauls, called Transalpine; those towards the Italian plains by the Taurisci and Agones and a number of other barbarous tribes. The name Transalpine is not tribal, but local, from the Latin proposition trans, “across.” The summits of the Alps, from their rugged character, and the great depth of eternal snow, are entirely uninhabited. Both slopes of the Apennines, towards the Tuscan Sea and towards the plains, are inhabited by the Ligurians, from above Marseilles and the Junction with the Alps to Pisae on the cast, the first city on the west of Etruria, and inland to Arretium. Next to them come the Etruscans; and next on both slopes the Umbrians. The distance between the Apennines and the Adriatic averages about five hundred stades; and when it leaves the northern plains the chain verges to the right, and goes entirely through the middle of the rest of Italy, as far as the Sicilian Sea. The remaining portion of this triangle, namely the plain along the sea coast, extends as far as the town of Sena. The Padus, celebrated by the poets under the name of Eridanus, rises in the Alps near the apex of the triangle, and flows down to the plains with a southerly course; but after reaching the plains, it turns to the east, and flowing through them discharges itself by two mouths into the Adriatic. The larger part of the plain is thus cut off by it, and lies between this river and the Alps to the head of the Adriatic. In body of water it is second to no river in Italy, because the mountain streams, descending from the Alps and Apennines to the plain, one and all flow into it on both sides; and its stream is at its height and beauty about the time of the rising of the Dog Star, because it is then swollen by the melting snows on those mountains. It is navigable for nearly two thousand stades up stream, the ships entering by the mouth called Olana; for though it is a single main stream to begin with, it branches off into two at the place called Trigoboli, of which streams the northern is called the Padoa, the southern the Olana. At the mouth of the latter there is a harbour affording as safe anchorage as any in the Adriatic. The whole river is called by the country folk the Bodencus. As to the other stories current in Greece about this river,—I mean Phaethon and his fall, and the tears of the poplars and the black clothes of the inhabitants along this stream, which they are said to wear at this day as mourning for Phaethon,—all such tragic incidents I omit for the present, as not being suitable to the kind of work I have in hand; but I shall return to them at some other more fitting opportunity, particularly because Timaeus has shown a strange ignorance of this district.
16. τὸν δʼ Ἀπεννῖνον ἀπὸ μὲν τῆς ἀρχῆς τῆς ὑπὲρ Μασσαλίαν καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὰς Ἄλπεις συμπτώσεως Λιγυστῖνοι κατοικοῦσιν, καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ Τυρρηνικὸν πέλαγος αὐτοῦ πλευρὰν κεκλιμένην καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τὰ πεδία, παρὰ θάλατταν μὲν μέχρι πόλεως Πίσης, ἣ πρώτη κεῖται τῆς Τυρρηνίας ὡς πρὸς τὰς δυσμάς, κατὰ δὲ τὴν μεσόγαιον ἕως τῆς Ἀρρητίνων χώρας. ἑξῆς δὲ Τυρρηνοί· τούτοις δὲ συνεχεῖς ἑκάτερον τὸ κλίμα νέμονται τῶν προειρημένων ὀρῶν Ὄμβροι. λοιπὸν ὁ μὲν Ἀπεννῖνος ἀπέχων τῆς κατὰ τὸν Ἀδρίαν θαλάττης σταδίους ὡσανεὶ πεντακοσίους ἀπολείπει τὰ πεδία δεξιὸς ἀπονεύων, καὶ διὰ μέσης τῆς λοιπῆς Ἰταλίας διήκων εἰς τὸ Σικελικὸν κατατείνει πέλαγος. τὸ δʼ ἀπολειπόμενον μέρος πεδινὸν τῆς πλευρᾶς ἐπὶ θάλατταν καὶ πόλιν καθήκει Σήνην. ὁ δὲ Πάδος ποταμός, ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν ποιητῶν Ἠριδανὸς θρυλούμενος, ἔχει μὲν τὰς πηγὰς ἀπὸ τῶν Ἄλπεων ὡς πρὸς τὴν κορυφὴν μᾶλλον τοῦ προειρημένου σχήματος, καταφέρεται δʼ εἰς τὰ πεδία, ποιούμενος τὴν ῥύσιν ὡς ἐπὶ μεσημβρίαν. ἀφικόμενος δʼ εἰς τοὺς ἐπιπέδους τόπους, ἐκκλίνας τῷ ῥεύματι πρὸς ἕω φέρεται διʼ αὐτῶν· ποιεῖ δὲ τὴν ἐκβολὴν δυσὶ στόμασιν εἰς τοὺς κατὰ τὸν Ἀδρίαν τόπους· τὸ δὲ πλεῖον ἀποτέμνεται μέρος τῆς πεδιάδος χώρας εἰς τὰς Ἄλπεις καὶ τὸν Ἀδριατικὸν μυχόν. ἄγει δὲ πλῆθος ὕδατος οὐδενὸς ἔλαττον τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν ποταμῶν διὰ τὸ τὰς ῥύσεις τὰς ἐπὶ τὰ πεδία νευούσας ἀπό τε τῶν Ἄλπεων καὶ τῶν Ἀπεννίνων ὀρῶν εἰς τοῦτον ἐμπίπτειν ἁπάσας καὶ πανταχόθεν. μεγίστῳ δὲ καὶ καλλίστῳ ῥεύματι φέρεται περὶ κυνὸς ἐπιτολήν, αὐξόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους τῶν ἀνατηκομένων χιόνων ἐν τοῖς προειρημένοις ὄρεσιν. ἀναπλεῖται δʼ ἐκ θαλάττης κατὰ τὸ στόμα τὸ καλούμενον Ὄλανα σχεδὸν ἐπὶ δισχιλίους σταδίους. τὴν μὲν γὰρ πρώτην ἐκ τῶν πηγῶν ἔχει ῥύσιν ἁπλῆν, σχίζεται δʼ εἰς δύο μέρη κατὰ τοὺς προσαγορευομένους Τριγαβόλους· τούτων δὲ τὸ μὲν ἕτερον στόμα προσονομάζεται Παδόα, τὸ δʼ ἕτερον Ὄλανα. κεῖται δʼ ἐπὶ τούτῳ λιμήν, οὐδενὸς τῶν κατὰ τὸν Ἀδρίαν ἥττω παρεχόμενος ἀσφάλειαν τοῖς ἐν αὐτῷ καθορμιζομένοις. παρά γε μὴν τοῖς ἐγχωρίοις ὁ ποταμὸς προσαγορεύεται Βόδεγκος. τἄλλα δὲ τὰ περὶ τὸν ποταμὸν τοῦτον ἱστορούμενα παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι, λέγω δὴ τὰ περὶ Φαέθοντα καὶ τὴν ἐκείνου πτῶσιν, ἔτι δὲ τὰ δάκρυα τῶν αἰγείρων καὶ τοὺς μελανείμονας τοὺς περὶ τὸν ποταμὸν οἰκοῦντας, οὕς φασι τὰς ἐσθῆτας εἰσέτι νῦν φορεῖν τοιαύτας ἀπὸ τοῦ κατὰ Φαέθοντα πένθους, καὶ πᾶσαν δὴ τὴν τραγικὴν καὶ ταύτῃ προσεοικυῖαν ὕλην ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ παρόντος ὑπερθησόμεθα διὰ τὸ μὴ λίαν καθήκειν τῷ τῆς προκατασκευῆς γένει τὴν περὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἀκριβολογίαν. μεταλαβόντες δὲ καιρὸν ἁρμόττοντα ποιησόμεθα τὴν καθήκουσαν μνήμην, καὶ μάλιστα διὰ τὴν Τιμαίου περὶ τοὺς προειρημένους τόπους ἄγνοιαν.
17. To continue my description. These plains were anciently inhabited by Etruscans, at the same period as what are called the Phlegraean plains round Capua and Nola; which latter, however, have enjoyed the highest reputation, because they lay in a great many people’s way and so got known. In speaking then of the history of the Etruscan Empire, we should not refer to the district occupied by them at the present time, but to these northern plains, and to what they did when they inhabited them. Their chief intercourse was with the Celts, because they occupied the adjoining districts; who, envying the beauty of their lands, seized some slight pretext to gather a great host and expel the Etruscans from the valley of the Padus, which they at once took possession of themselves. First, the country near the source of the Padus was occupied by the Laevi and Lebecii; after them the Insubres settled in the country, the largest tribe of all; and next them, along the bank of the river, the Cenomani. But the district along the shore of the Adriatic was held by another very ancient tribe called Venĕti, in customs and dress nearly allied to Celts, but using quite a different language, about whom the tragic poets have written a great many wonderful tales. South of the Padus, in the Apennine district, first beginning from the west, the Ananes, and next them the Boii settled. Next them, on the coast of the Adriatic, the Lingones; and south of these, still on the sea-coast, the Senones. These are the most important tribes that took possession of this part of the country. They lived in open villages, and without any permanent buildings. As they made their beds of straw or leaves, and fed on meat, and followed no pursuits but those of war and agriculture, they lived simple lives without being acquainted with any science or art whatever. Each man’s property, moreover, consisted in cattle and gold; as they were the only things that could be easily carried with them, when they wandered from place to place, and changed their dwelling as their fancy directed. They made a great point, however, of friendship: for the man who had the largest number of clients or companions in his wanderings, was looked upon as the most formidable and powerful member of the tribe.
17. πλὴν ταῦτά γε τὰ πεδία τὸ παλαιὸν ἐνέμοντο Τυρρηνοί, καθʼ οὓς χρόνους καὶ τὰ Φλέγραιά ποτε καλούμενα τὰ περὶ Καπύην καὶ Νώλην· ἃ δὴ καὶ διὰ τὸ πολλοῖς ἐμποδὼν εἶναι καὶ γνωρίζεσθαι μεγάλην ἐπʼ ἀρετῇ δόξαν εἴληφεν. διὸ καὶ τοὺς ἱστοροῦντας τὰς Τυρρηνῶν δυναστείας οὐ χρὴ ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἀναφορὰν ἐπὶ τὴν νῦν κατεχομένην ὑπʼ αὐτῶν χώραν, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τὰ προειρημένα πεδία καὶ τὰς ἐκ τούτων τῶν τόπων ἀφορμάς. οἷς ἐπιμιγνύμενοι κατὰ τὴν παράθεσιν Κελτοὶ καὶ περὶ τὸ κάλλος τῆς χώρας ὀφθαλμιάσαντες, ἐκ μικρᾶς προφάσεως μεγάλῃ στρατιᾷ παραδόξως ἐπελθόντες ἐξέβαλον ἐκ τῆς περὶ τὸν Πάδον χώρας Τυρρηνοὺς καὶ κατέσχον αὐτοὶ τὰ πεδία. τὰ μὲν οὖν πρῶτα καὶ περὶ τὰς ἀνατολὰς τοῦ Πάδου κείμενα Λάοι καὶ Λεβέκιοι, μετὰ δὲ τούτους Ἴνσοβρες κατῴκησαν, ὃ μέγιστον ἔθνος ἦν αὐτῶν· ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις παρὰ τὸν ποταμὸν Γονομάνοι. τὰ δὲ πρὸς τὸν Ἀδρίαν ἤδη προσήκοντα γένος ἄλλο πάνυ παλαιὸν διακατέσχεν· προσαγορεύονται δʼ Οὐένετοι, τοῖς μὲν ἔθεσι καὶ τῷ κόσμῳ βραχεῖ διαφέροντες Κελτῶν, γλώττῃ δʼ ἀλλοίᾳ χρώμενοι. περὶ ὧν οἱ τραγῳδιογράφοι πολύν τινα πεποίηνται λόγον καὶ πολλὴν διατέθεινται τερατείαν. τὰ δὲ πέραν τοῦ Πάδου τὰ περὶ τὸν Ἀπεννῖνον πρῶτοι μὲν Ἄναρες, μετὰ δὲ τούτους Βοῖοι κατῴκησαν· ἑξῆς δὲ τούτων ὡς πρὸς τὸν Ἀδρίαν Λίγγονες, τὰ δὲ τελευταῖα πρὸς θαλάττῃ Σήνωνες. τὰ μὲν οὖν ἐπιφανέστατα τῶν κατασχόντων τοὺς προειρημένους τόπους ἐθνῶν ταῦθʼ ὑπῆρχεν. ᾤκουν δὲ κατὰ κώμας ἀτειχίστους, τῆς λοιπῆς κατασκευῆς ἄμοιροι καθεστῶτες. διὰ γὰρ τὸ στιβαδοκοιτεῖν καὶ κρεαφαγεῖν, ἔτι δὲ μηδὲν ἄλλο πλὴν τὰ πολεμικὰ καὶ τὰ κατὰ γεωργίαν· ἀσκεῖν ἁπλοῦς εἶχον τοὺς βίους, οὔτʼ ἐπιστήμης ἄλλης οὔτε τέχνης παρʼ αὐτοῖς τὸ παράπαν γινωσκομένης. ὕπαρξίς γε μὴν ἑκάστοις ἦν θρέμματα καὶ χρυσὸς διὰ τὸ μόνα ταῦτα κατὰ τὰς περιστάσεις ῥᾳδίως δύνασθαι πανταχῇ περιαγαγεῖν καὶ μεθιστάναι κατὰ τὰς αὑτῶν προαιρέσεις. περὶ δὲ τὰς ἑταιρείας μεγίστην σπουδὴν ἐποιοῦντο διὰ τὸ καὶ φοβερώτατον καὶ δυνατώτατον εἶναι παρʼ αὐτοῖς τοῦτον ὃς ἂν πλείστους ἔχειν δοκῇ τοὺς θεραπεύοντας καὶ συμπεριφερομένους αὐτῷ.
18. In the early times of their settlement they did not merely subdue the territory which they occupied, but rendered also many of the neighbouring peoples subject to them, whom they overawed by their audacity. Some time afterwards they conquered the Romans in battle, and pursuing the flying legions, in three days after the battle occupied Rome itself with the exception of the Capitol. But a circumstance intervened which recalled them home, an invasion, that is to say, of their territory by the Venĕti. Accordingly they made terms with the Romans, handed back the city, and returned to their own land; and subsequently were occupied with domestic wars. Some of the tribes, also, who dwelt on the Alps, comparing their own barren districts with the rich territory occupied by the others, were continually making raids upon them, and collecting their force to attack them. This gave the Romans time to recover their strength, and to come to terms with the people of Latium. When, thirty years after the capture of the city, the Celts came again as far as Alba, the Romans were taken by surprise; and having had no intelligence of the intended invasion, nor time to collect the forces of the Socii, did not venture to give them battle. But when another invasion in great force took place twelve years later, they did get previous intelligence of it; and, having mustered their allies, sallied forth to meet them with great spirit, being eager to engage them and fight a decisive battle. But the Gauls were dismayed at their approach; and, being besides weakened by internal feuds, retreated homewards as soon as night fell, with all the appearance of a regular flight. After this alarm they kept quiet for thirteen years; at the end of which period, seeing that the power of the Romans was growing formidable, they made a peace and a definite treaty with them.
18. τὰς μὲν οὖν ἀρχὰς οὐ μόνον τῆς χώρας ἐπεκράτουν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν σύνεγγυς πολλοὺς ὑπηκόους ἐπεποίηντο, τῇ τόλμῃ καταπεπληγμένοι. μετὰ δέ τινα χρόνον μάχῃ νικήσαντες Ῥωμαίους καὶ τοὺς μετὰ τούτων παραταξαμένους, ἑπόμενοι τοῖς φεύγουσι τρισὶ τῆς μάχης ἡμέραις ὕστερον κατέσχον αὐτὴν τὴν Ῥώμην πλὴν τοῦ Καπετωλίου. γενομένου δʼ ἀντισπάσματος, καὶ τῶν Οὐενέτων ἐμβαλόντων εἰς τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν, τότε μὲν ποιησάμενοι συνθήκας πρὸς Ῥωμαίους καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἀποδόντες ἐπανῆλθον εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τοῖς ἐμφυλίοις συνείχοντο πολέμοις· ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ τῶν τὰς Ἄλπεις κατοικούντων ὁρμὰς ἐποιοῦντο καὶ συνηθροίζοντο πολλάκις ἐπʼ αὐτούς, θεωροῦντες ἐκ παραθέσεως τὴν παραγεγενημένην αὐτοῖς εὐδαιμονίαν. ἐν ᾧ καιρῷ Ῥωμαῖοι τήν τε σφετέραν δύναμιν ἀνέλαβον καὶ τὰ κατὰ τοὺς Λατίνους αὖθις πράγματα συνεστήσαντο. παραγενομένων δὲ πάλιν τῶν Κελτῶν εἰς Ἄλβαν στρατεύματι μεγάλῳ μετὰ τὴν τῆς πόλεως κατάληψιν ἔτει τριακοστῷ, τότε μὲν οὐκ ἐτόλμησαν ἀντεξαγαγεῖν Ῥωμαῖοι τὰ στρατόπεδα διὰ τὸ παραδόξου γενομένης τῆς ἐφόδου προκαταληφθῆναι καὶ μὴ καταταχῆσαι τὰς τῶν συμμάχων ἁθροίσαντας δυνάμεις. αὖθις δʼ ἐξ ἐπιβολῆς ἑτέρας ἔτει δωδεκάτῳ μετὰ μεγάλης στρατιᾶς ἐπιπορευομένων προαισθόμενοι καὶ συναγείραντες τοὺς συμμάχους μετὰ πολλῆς προθυμίας ἀπήντων, σπεύδοντες συμβαλεῖν καὶ διακινδυνεῦσαι περὶ τῶν ὅλων. οἱ δὲ Γαλάται καταπλαγέντες τὴν ἔφοδον αὐτῶν καὶ διαστασιάσαντες πρὸς σφᾶς νυκτὸς ἐπιγενομένης φυγῇ παραπλησίαν ἐποιήσαντο τὴν ἀποχώρησιν εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν. ἀπὸ δὲ τούτου τοῦ φόβου τριακαίδεκα μὲν ἔτη τὴν ἡσυχίαν ἔσχον, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα συνορῶντες αὐξανομένην τὴν Ῥωμαίων δύναμιν εἰρήνην ἐποι ήσαντο καὶ συνθήκας.
19. They abided by this treaty for thirty years: but at that time, alarmed by a threatening movement on the part of the Transalpine tribes, and fearing that a dangerous war was imminent, they diverted the attack of the invading horde from themselves by presents and appeals to their ties of kindred, but incited them to attack the Romans, joining in the expedition themselves. They directed their march through Etruria, and were joined by the Etruscans; and the combined armies, after taking a great quantity of booty, got safely back from the Roman territory. But when they got home, they quarrelled about the division of the spoil, and in the end destroyed most of it, as well as the flower of their own force. This is the way of the Gauls when they have appropriated their neighbours’ property; and it mostly arises from brutal drunkenness, and intemperate feeding. In the fourth year after this, the Samnites and Gauls made a league, gave the Romans battle in the neighbourhood of Camerium, and slew a large number. Incensed at this defeat, the Romans marched out a few days afterwards, and with two Consular armies engaged the enemy in the territory of Sentinum; and, having killed the greater number of them, forced the survivors to retreat in hot haste each to his own land. Again, after another interval of ten years, the Gauls besieged Arretium with a great army, and the Romans went to the assistance of the town, and were beaten in an engagement under its walls. The Praetor Lucius having fallen in this battle, Manius Curius was appointed in his place. The ambassadors, sent by him to the Gauls to treat for the prisoners, were treacherously murdered by them. At this the Romans, in high wrath, sent an expedition against them, which was met by the tribe called the Senones. In a pitched battle the army of the Senones were cut to pieces, and the rest of the tribe expelled from the county; into which the Romans sent the first colony which they ever planted in Gaul—namely, the town of Sena, so called from the tribe of Gauls which formerly occupied it. This is the town which I mentioned before as lying on the coast at the extremity of the plains of the Padus.
19. ἐν αἷς ἔτη τριάκοντα μείναντες ἐμπεδῶς, αὖθις γενομένου κινήματος ἐκ τῶν Τρανσαλπίνων, δείσαντες μὴ πόλεμος αὐτοῖς ἐγερθῇ βαρύς, ἀπὸ μὲν αὑτῶν ἔτρεψαν τὰς ὁρμὰς τῶν ἐξανισταμένων, δωροφοροῦντες καὶ προτιθέμενοι τὴν συγγένειαν, ἐπὶ δὲ Ῥωμαίους παρώξυναν καὶ μετέσχον αὐτοῖς τῆς στρατείας. ἐν ᾗ τὴν ἔφοδον ποιησάμενοι διὰ Τυρρηνίας, ὁμοῦ συστρατευσαμένων σφίσι Τυρρηνῶν, καὶ περιβαλόμενοι λείας πλῆθος ἐκ μὲν τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἐπαρχίας ἀσφαλῶς ἐπανῆλθον. εἰς δὲ τὴν οἰκείαν ἀφικόμενοι καὶ στασιάσαντες περὶ τὴν τῶν εἰλημμένων πλεονεξίαν τῆς τε λείας καὶ τῆς αὑτῶν δυνάμεως τὸ πλεῖστον μέρος διέφθειραν. τοῦτο δὲ σύνηθές ἐστι Γαλάταις πράττειν, ἐπειδὰν σφετερίσωνταί τι τῶν πέλας, καὶ μάλιστα διὰ τὰς ἀλόγους οἰνοφλυγίας καὶ πλησμονάς. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πάλιν ἔτει τετάρτῳ συμφρονήσαντες ἅμα Σαυνῖται καὶ Γαλάται παρετάξαντο Ῥωμαίοις ἐν τῇ Καμερτίων χώρᾳ καὶ πολλοὺς αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ κινδύνῳ διέφθειραν. ἐν ᾧ καιρῷ προσφιλονικήσαντες πρὸς τὸ γεγονὸς ἐλάττωμʼ αὐτοῖς Ῥωμαῖοι μετʼ ὀλίγας ἡμέρας ἐξῆλθον καὶ συμβαλόντες πᾶσι τοῖς στρατοπέδοις ἐν τῇ τῶν Σεντινατῶν χώρᾳ πρὸς τοὺς προειρημένους τοὺς μὲν πλείστους ἀπέκτειναν, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς ἠνάγκασαν προτροπάδην ἑκάστους εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν φυγεῖν. διαγενομένων δὲ πάλιν ἐτῶν δέκα παρεγένοντο Γαλάται μετὰ μεγάλης στρατιᾶς, πολιορκήσοντες τὴν Ἀρρητίνων πόλιν. Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ παραβοηθήσαντες καὶ συμβαλόντες πρὸ τῆς πόλεως ἡττήθησαν. ἐν δὲ τῇ μάχῃ ταύτῃ Λευκίου τοῦ στρατηγοῦ τελευτήσαντος Μάνιον ἐπικατέστησαν τὸν Κόριον. οὗ πρεσβευτὰς ἐκπέμψαντος εἰς Γαλατίαν ὑπὲρ τῶν αἰχμαλώτων, παρασπονδήσαντες ἐπανείλοντο τοὺς πρέσβεις. τῶν δὲ Ῥωμαίων ὑπὸ τὸν θυμὸν ἐκ χειρὸς ἐπιστρατευσαμένων, ἀπαντήσαντες συνέβαλλον οἱ Σήνωνες καλούμενοι Γαλάται. Ῥωμαῖοι δʼ ἐκ παρατάξεως κρατήσαντες αὐτῶν τοὺς μὲν πλείστους ἀπέκτειναν, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς ἐξέβαλον, τῆς δὲ χώρας ἐγένοντο πάσης ἐγκρατεῖς. εἰς ἣν καὶ πρώτην τῆς Γαλατίας ἀποικίαν ἔστειλαν τὴν Σήνην προσαγορευομένην πόλιν, ὁμώνυμον οὖσαν τοῖς πρότερον αὐτὴν κατοικοῦσι Γαλάταις, ὑπὲρ ἧς ἀρτίως διεσαφήσαμεν, φάσκοντες αὐτὴν παρὰ τὸν Ἀδρίαν ἐπὶ τῷ πέρατι κεῖσθαι τῶν περὶ τὸν Πάδον πεδίων.
20. Seeing the expulsion of the Senones, and fearing the same fate for themselves, the Boii made a general levy, summoned the Etruscans to join them, and set out to war. They mustered their forces near the lacus Vadimonis, and there gave the Romans battle; in which the Etruscans indeed suffered a loss of more than half their men, while scarcely any of the Boii escaped. But yet in the very next year the same two nations joined forces once more; and arming even those of them who had only just reached manhood, gave the Romans battle again; and it was not until they had been utterly defeated in this engagement that they humbled themselves so far as to send ambassadors to Rome and make a treaty. These events took place in the third year before Pyrrhus crossed into Italy, and in the fifth before the destruction of the Gauls at Delphi. For at this period fortune seems to have plagued the Gauls with a kind of epidemic of war. But the Romans gained two most important advantages from these events. First, their constant defeats at the hands of the Gauls had inured them to the worst that could befall them; and so, when they had to fight with Pyrrhus, they came to the contest like trained and experienced gladiators. And in the second place, they had crushed the insolence of the Gauls just in time to allow them to give an undivided attention, first to the war with Pyrrhus for the possession of Italy, and then to the war with Carthage for the supremacy in Sicily.
20. οἱ δὲ Βοῖοι θεωροῦντες ἐκπεπτωκότας τοὺς Σήνωνας, καὶ δείσαντες περὶ σφῶν καὶ τῆς χώρας μὴ πάθωσι τὸ παραπλήσιον ἐξεστράτευσαν πανδημεὶ παρακαλέσαντες Τυρρηνούς. ἁθροισθέντες δὲ περὶ τὴν Ὀάδμονα προσαγορευομένην λίμνην παρετάξαντο Ῥωμαίοις. ἐν δὲ τῇ μάχῃ ταύτῃ Τυρρηνῶν μὲν οἱ πλεῖστοι κατεκόπησαν, τῶν δὲ Βοίων τελέως ὀλίγοι διέφυγον. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ τῷ κατὰ πόδας ἐνιαυτῷ συμφρονήσαντες αὖθις οἱ προειρημένοι καὶ τοὺς ἄρτι τῶν νέων ἡβῶντας καθοπλίσαντες παρετάξαντο πρὸς Ῥωμαίους. ἡττηθέντες δʼ ὁλοσχερῶς τῇ μάχῃ μόλις εἶξαν ταῖς ψυχαῖς καὶ διαπρεσβευσάμενοι περὶ σπονδῶν καὶ διαλύσεων συνθήκας ἔθεντο πρὸς Ῥωμαίους. ταῦτα δὲ συνέβαινεν γίνεσθαι τῷ τρίτῳ πρότερον ἔτει τῆς Πύρρου διαβάσεως εἰς τὴν Ἰταλίαν, πέμπτῳ δὲ τῆς Γαλατῶν περὶ Δελφοὺς διαφθορᾶς. ἐν γὰρ τούτοις ἡ τύχη τοῖς καιροῖς ὡσανεὶ λοιμικήν τινα πολέμου διάθεσιν ἐπέστησε πᾶσι Γαλάταις. ἐκ δὲ τῶν προειρημένων ἀγώνων δύο τὰ κάλλιστα συνεκύρησε Ῥωμαίοις· τοῦ γὰρ κατακόπτεσθαι συνήθειαν ἐσχηκότες ὑπὸ Γαλατῶν οὐδὲν ἠδύναντο δεινότερον ἰδεῖν οὐδὲ προσδοκῆσαι τῶν αὐτοῖς ἤδη πεπραγμένων· ἐξ ὧν πρός τε Πύρρον ἀθληταὶ τέλειοι γεγονότες τῶν κατὰ πόλεμον ἔργων συγκατέστησαν, τήν τε Γαλατῶν τόλμαν ἐν καιρῷ καταπληξάμενοι λοιπὸν ἀπερισπάστως τὸ μὲν πρῶτον πρὸς Πύρρον περὶ τῆς Ἰταλίας ἐπολέμουν, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πρὸς Καρχηδονίους ὑπὲρ τῆς Σικελιωτῶν ἀρχῆς διηγωνίζοντο.
21. After these defeats the Gauls maintained an unbroken peace with Rome for forty-five years. But when the generation which had witnessed the actual struggle had passed away, and a younger generation of men had taken their places, filled with unreflecting hardihood, and who had neither experienced nor seen any suffering or reverse, they began, as was natural, to disturb the settlement; and on the one hand to let trifling causes exasperate them against Rome, and on the other to invite the Alpine Gauls to join the fray. At first these intrigues were carried on by their chiefs without the knowledge of the tribesmen; and accordingly, when an armed host of Transalpine Gauls arrived at Ariminum, the Boii were suspicious; and forming a conspiracy against their own leaders, as well as against the new-comers, they put their own two kings Atis and Galatus to death, and cut each other to pieces in a pitched battle. Just then the Romans, alarmed at the threatened invasion, had despatched an army; but learning that the Gauls had committed this act of self-destruction, it returned home again. In the fifth year after this alarm, in the Consulship of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, the Romans divided among their citizens the territory of Picenum, from which they had ejected the Senones when they conquered them: a democratic measure introduced by Gaius Flaminius, and a policy which we must pronounce to have been the first step in the demoralisation of the people, as well as the cause of the next Gallic war. For many of the Gauls, and especially the Boii whose lands were coterminous with the Roman territory, entered upon that war from the conviction that the object of Rome in her wars with them was no longer supremacy and empire over them, but their total expulsion and destruction.
21. Γαλάται δʼ ἐκ τῶν προειρημένων ἐλαττωμάτων ἔτη μὲν πέντε καὶ τετταράκοντα τὴν ἡσυχίαν ἔσχον, εἰρήνην ἄγοντες πρὸς Ῥωμαίους. ἐπεὶ δʼ οἱ μὲν αὐτόπται γεγονότες τῶν δεινῶν ἐκ τοῦ ζῆν ἐξεχώρησαν διὰ τὸν χρόνον, ἐπεγένοντο δὲ νέοι, θυμοῦ μὲν ἀλογίστου πλήρεις, ἄπειροι δὲ καὶ ἀόρατοι παντὸς κακοῦ καὶ πάσης περιστάσεως, αὖθις ἤρξαντο τὰ καθεστῶτα κινεῖν, ὃ φύσιν ἔχει γίνεσθαι καὶ τραχύνεσθαι μὲν ἐκ τῶν τυχόντων πρὸς Ῥωμαίους, ἐπισπᾶσθαι δὲ τοὺς ἐκ τῶν Ἄλπεων Γαλάτας. τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον χωρὶς τοῦ πλήθους διʼ αὐτῶν τῶν ἡγουμένων ἐν ἀπορρήτοις ἐπράττετο τὰ προειρημένα. διὸ καὶ παραγενομένων τῶν Τρανσαλπίνων ἕως Ἀριμίνου μετὰ δυνάμεως, διαπιστήσαντα τὰ πλήθη τῶν Βοίων καὶ στασιάσαντα πρός τε τοὺς ἑαυτῶν προεστῶτας καὶ πρὸς τοὺς παραγεγονότας ἀνεῖλον μὲν τοὺς ἰδίους βασιλεῖς Ἄτιν καὶ Γάλατον, κατέκοψαν δʼ ἀλλήλους, συμβαλόντες ἐκ παρατάξεων. ὅτε δὴ καὶ Ῥωμαῖοι κατάφοβοι γενόμενοι τὴν ἔφοδον ἐξῆλθον μετὰ στρατοπέδου· συνέντες δὲ τὴν αὐθαίρετον καταφθορὰν τῶν Γαλατῶν αὖθις ἀνεχώρησαν εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν. μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν φόβον ἔτει πέμπτῳ, Μάρκου Λεπέδου στρατηγοῦντος, κατεκληρούχησαν ἐν Γαλατίᾳ Ῥωμαῖοι τὴν Πικεντίνην προσαγορευομένην χώραν, ἐξ ἧς νικήσαντες ἐξέβαλον τοὺς Σήνωνας προσαγορευομένους Γαλάτας, Γαΐου Φλαμινίου ταύτην τὴν δημαγωγίαν εἰσηγησαμένου καὶ πολιτείαν, ἣν δὴ καὶ Ῥωμαίοις ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν φατέον ἀρχηγὸν μὲν γενέσθαι τῆς ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον τοῦ δήμου διαστροφῆς, αἰτίαν δὲ καὶ τοῦ μετὰ ταῦτα πολέμου συστάντος αὐτοῖς πρὸς τοὺς προειρημένους. πολλοὶ μὲν γὰρ τῶν Γαλατῶν ὑπεδύοντο τὴν πρᾶξιν, μάλιστα δʼ οἱ Βοῖοι διὰ τὸ συντερμονεῖν τῇ τῶν Ῥωμαίων χώρᾳ, νομίσαντες οὐχ ὑπὲρ ἡγεμονίας ἔτι καὶ δυναστείας Ῥωμαίους τὸν πρὸς αὐτοὺς ποιήσασθαι πόλεμον, ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ ὁλοσχεροῦς ἐξαναστάσεως καὶ καταφθορᾶς.
22. Accordingly the two most extensive tribes, the Insubres and Boii, joined in the despatch of messengers to the tribes living about the Alps and on the Rhone, who from a word which means “serving for hire,” are called Gaesatae. To their kings Concolitanus and Aneroetes they offered a large sum of gold on the spot; and, for the future, pointed out to them the greatness of the wealth of Rome, and all the riches of which they would become possessed, if they took it. In these attempts to inflame their cupidity and induce them to join the expedition against Rome they easily succeeded. For they added to the above arguments pledges of their own alliance; and reminded them of the campaign of their own ancestors in which they had seized Rome itself, and had been masters of all it contained, as well as the city itself, for seven months; and had at last evacuated it of their own free will, and restored it by an act of free grace, returning unconquered and scatheless with the booty to their own land. These arguments made the leaders so eager for the expedition, that there never at any other time came from that part of Gaul a larger host, or one consisting of more notable warriors. Meanwhile, the Romans, informed of what was coming, partly by report and partly by conjecture, were in such a state of constant alarm and excitement, that they hurriedly enrolled legions, collected supplies, and sent out their forces to the frontier, as though the enemy were already in their territory, before the Gauls had stirred from their own lands. It was this movement of the Gauls that, more than anything else, helped the Carthaginians to consolidate their power in Iberia. For the Romans, as I have said, looked upon the Celtic question as the more pressing one of the two, as being so near home; and were forced to wink at what was going on in Iberia, in their anxiety to settle it satisfactorily first. Having, therefore, put their relations with the Carthaginians on a safe footing by the treaty with Hasdrubal, which I spoke of a short time back, they gave an undivided attention to the Celtic war, convinced that their interest demanded that a decisive battle should be fought with them.
22. διόπερ εὐθέως τὰ μέγιστα τῶν ἐθνῶν, τό τε τῶν Ἰνσόμβρων καὶ Βοίων, συμφρονήσαντα διεπέμποντο πρὸς τοὺς κατὰ τὰς Ἄλπεις καὶ περὶ τὸν Ῥοδανὸν ποταμὸν κατοικοῦντας Γαλάτας, προσαγορευομένους δὲ διὰ τὸ μισθοῦ στρατεύειν Γαισάτους· ἡ γὰρ λέξις αὕτη τοῦτο σημαίνει κυρίως. ὧν τοῖς βασιλεῦσι Κογκολιτάνῳ καὶ Ἀνηροέστῳ παραυτίκα μὲν χρυσίου προτείναντες πλῆθος, εἰς τὸ μέλλον δʼ ὑποδεικνύντες τὸ μέγεθος τῆς Ῥωμαίων εὐδαιμονίας καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ὑπαρξόντων αὐτοῖς ἀγαθῶν, ἐὰν κρατήσωσι, προετρέποντο καὶ παρώξυνον πρὸς τὴν ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίους στρατείαν. ῥᾳδίως δʼ ἔπεισαν, ἅμα τοῖς προειρημένοις διδόντες μὲν τὰ πιστὰ περὶ τῆς αὑτῶν συμμαχίας, ἀναμιμνήσκοντες δὲ τῆς τῶν ἰδίων προγόνων πράξεως αὐτούς· ἐν ᾗ ʼκεῖνοι στρατεύσαντες οὐ μόνον ἐνίκησαν μαχόμενοι Ῥωμαίους, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετὰ τὴν μάχην ἐξ ἐφόδου κατέσχον αὐτὴν τὴν Ῥώμην· γενόμενοι δὲ καὶ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ἁπάντων ἐγκρατεῖς καὶ τῆς πόλεως αὐτῆς ἑπτὰ μῆνας κυριεύσαντες, τέλος ἐθελοντὶ καὶ μετὰ χάριτος παραδόντες τὴν πόλιν, ἄθραυστοι καὶ ἀσινεῖς ἔχοντες τὴν ὠφέλειαν εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν ἐπανῆλθον. ὧν ἀκούοντες οἱ περὶ αὐτοὺς ἡγεμόνες οὕτω παρωρμήθησαν ἐπὶ τὴν στρατείαν ὥστε μηδέποτε μήτε πλείους μήτʼ ἐνδοξοτέρους μήτε μαχιμωτέρους ἄνδρας ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ τούτων τῶν τόπων τῆς Γαλατίας. κατὰ δὲ τοὺς καιροὺς τούτους Ῥωμαῖοι τὰ μὲν ἀκούοντες τὰ δὲ καταμαντευόμενοι τὸ μέλλον εἰς φόβους ἐνέπιπτον συνεχεῖς καὶ ταραχὰς ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον, ὥστε ποτὲ μὲν στρατόπεδα καταγράφειν καὶ σίτου καὶ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων ποιεῖσθαι παρασκευάς, ποτὲ δὲ καὶ τὰς δυνάμεις ἐξάγειν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὅρους, ὡς ἤδη παρόντων εἰς τὴν χώραν τῶν πολεμίων, οὐδέπω κεκινηκότων ἐκ τῆς οἰκείας τῶν Κελτῶν. οὐκ ἐλάχιστα δὲ συνήργησεν καὶ Καρχηδονίοις τοῦτο τὸ κίνημα πρὸς τὸ κατασκευάσασθαι τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν ἀσφαλῶς. Ῥωμαῖοι γάρ, ὡς καὶ πρόσθεν ἡμῖν εἴρηται, κρίνοντες ἀναγκαιότερα ταῦτα διὰ τὸ πρὸς ταῖς πλευραῖς αὐτῶν ὑπάρχειν παρορᾶν ἠναγκάζοντο τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν, σπουδάζοντες πρότερον ἐν καλῷ θέσθαι τὰ κατὰ τοὺς Κελτούς. διόπερ ἀσφαλισάμενοι τὰ πρὸς τοὺς Καρχηδονίους διὰ τῶν πρὸς τὸν Ἀσδρούβαν ὁμολογιῶν, ὑπὲρ ὧν ἄρτι δεδηλώκαμεν, ἐνεχείρησαν ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐν τούτοις τοῖς καιροῖς πρὸς τοὺς κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν πολεμίους, νομίζοντες συμφέρειν σφίσι τὸ διακριθῆναι πρὸς τούτους.
23. The Gaesatae, then, having collected their forces, crossed the Alps and descended into the valley of the Padus with a formidable army, furnished with a variety of armour, in the eighth year after the distribution of the lands of Picenum. The Insubres and Boii remained loyal to the agreement they had made with them: but the Venĕti and Cenomani being induced by embassies from Rome to take the Roman side, the Celtic kings were obliged to leave a portion of their forces behind, to guard against an invasion of their territory by those tribes. They themselves, with their main army, consisting of one hundred and fifty thousand foot, and twenty thousand horse and chariots, struck camp and started on their march, which was to be through Etruria, in high spirits. As soon as it was known at Rome that the Celts had crossed the Alps, one of the Consuls, Lucius Aemilius Papus, was sent with an army to Ariminum to guard against the passage of the enemy, and one of the Praetors into Etruria: for the other Consul, Gaius Atilius Regulus, happened to be in Sardinia with his legions. There was universal terror in Rome, for the danger threatening them was believed to be great and formidable. And naturally so: for the old fear of the Gauls had never been eradicated from their minds. No one thought of anything else: they were incessantly occupied in mustering the legions, or enrolling new ones, and in ordering up such of the allies as were ready for service. The proper magistrates were ordered to give in lists of all citizens of military age; that it might at once be known to what the total of the available forces amounted. And such stores of corn, and darts, and other military equipments were collected as no one could remember on any former occasion. From every side assistance was eagerly rendered; for the inhabitants of Italy, in their terror at the Gallic invasion, no longer thought of the matter as a question of alliance with Rome, or of the war as undertaken to support Roman supremacy, but each people regarded it as a danger menacing themselves and their own city and territory. The response to the Roman appeal therefore was prompt.
23. οἱ δὲ Γαισάται Γαλάται συστησάμενοι δύναμιν πολυτελῆ καὶ βαρεῖαν ἧκον ὑπεράραντες τὰς Ἄλπεις εἰς τὸν Πάδον ποταμὸν ἔτει μετὰ τὴν τῆς χώρας διάδοσιν ὀγδόῳ. τὸ μὲν οὖν τῶν Ἰνσόμβρων καὶ Βοίων γένος ἔμεινε γενναίως ἐν ταῖς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐπιβολαῖς, οἱ δʼ Οὐένετοι καὶ Γονομάνοι, διαπρεσβευσαμένων Ῥωμαίων, τούτοις εἵλοντο συμμαχεῖν. διὸ καὶ μέρος τι τῆς δυνάμεως καταλιπεῖν ἠναγκάσθησαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῶν Κελτῶν φυλακῆς χάριν τῆς χώρας πρὸς τὸν ἀπὸ τούτων φόβον. αὐτοὶ δʼ ἐξάραντες παντὶ τῷ στρατεύματι κατατεθαρρηκότως ὥρμησαν, ποιούμενοι τὴν πορείαν ὡς ἐπὶ Τυρρηνίας, ἔχοντες πεζοὺς μὲν εἰς πεντακισμυρίους, ἱππεῖς δὲ καὶ συνωρίδας εἰς δισμυρίους. Ῥωμαῖοι δʼ ὡς θᾶττον ἤκουσαν τοὺς Κελτοὺς ὑπερβεβληκέναι τὰς Ἄλπεις, Λεύκιον μὲν Αἰμίλιον ὕπατον μετὰ δυνάμεως ἐξαπέστειλαν ὡς ἐπʼ Ἀριμίνου, τηρήσοντα ταύτῃ τῶν ἐναντίων τὴν ἔφοδον, ἕνα δὲ τῶν ἑξαπελέκεων εἰς Τυρρηνίαν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἕτερος τῶν ὑπάτων Γάιος Ἀτίλιος προεξεληλυθὼς ἔτυχεν εἰς Σαρδόνα μετὰ τῶν στρατοπέδων, οἱ δʼ ἐν τῇ Ῥώμῃ πάντες περιδεεῖς ἦσαν, μέγαν καὶ φοβερὸν αὑτοῖς ὑπολαμβάνοντες ἐπιφέρεσθαι κίνδυνον. ἔπασχον δὲ τοῦτʼ εἰκότως, ἔτι περὶ Γαλατῶν ἐγκαθημένου ταῖς ψυχαῖς αὐτῶν τοῦ παλαιοῦ φόβου. διὸ καὶ πρὸς ταύτην ἀναφέροντες τὴν ἔννοιαν τὰ μὲν συνήθροιζον, τὰ δὲ κατέγραφον στρατόπεδα, τοῖς δʼ ἑτοίμοις εἶναι παρήγγελλον τῶν συμμάχων. καθόλου δὲ τοῖς ὑποτεταγμένοις ἀναφέρειν ἐπέταξαν ἀπογραφὰς τῶν ἐν ταῖς ἡλικίαις, σπουδάζοντες εἰδέναι τὸ σύμπαν πλῆθος τῆς ὑπαρχούσης αὐτοῖς δυνάμεως. σίτου δὲ καὶ βελῶν καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἐπιτηδειότητος πρὸς πόλεμον τηλικαύτην ἐποιήσαντο κατασκευὴν ἡλίκην οὐδείς πω μνημονεύει πρότερον. συνηργεῖτο δʼ αὐτοῖς πάντα καὶ πανταχόθεν ἑτοίμως. καταπεπληγμένοι γὰρ οἱ τὴν Ἰταλίαν οἰκοῦντες τὴν τῶν Γαλατῶν ἔφοδον οὐκέτι Ῥωμαίοις ἡγοῦντο συμμαχεῖν οὐδὲ περὶ τῆς τούτων ἡγεμονίας γίνεσθαι τὸν πόλεμον, ἀλλὰ περὶ σφῶν ἐνόμιζον ἕκαστοι καὶ τῆς ἰδίας πόλεως καὶ χώρας ἐπιφέρεσθαι τὸν κίνδυνον. διόπερ ἑτοίμως τοῖς παραγγελλομένοις ὑπήκουον.