[91] De Bello Gallico, VII. 22.—Pliny, XXXIV. xvii., p. 162, edit. Sillig.
[92] “Deinde et argentum incoquere simili modo cœpere, equorum maxime ornamentis, jumentorumque ac jugorum, in Alesia oppido.” (Pliny, XXXIV. xvii., p. 162.—Florus, III. 2.)
[93] Milk and the flesh of wild or domestic animals, especially swine’s flesh fresh or salted, formed the principal food of the Gauls. (Strabo, IV., p. 163.)—Beer and mead were the principal drink of the Gauls. (Posidonius quoted by Athenæus, IV., p. 151, Fragmenta Historicum Græc., III. 260.)—This statement is made also by Diodorus Siculus (V. 26), who informs us that this beer was made with barley.
[94] Cicero already remarked the propensity of the Gauls to drunkenness (Orat. pro Fonteio), and Ammianus Marcellinus (XV. 12) also addresses the same reproach to them, which is again stated in Diodorus Siculus (V. 26).
[95] “The Gauls, in their great hospitality, invited the stranger to their meal as soon as he presented himself, and it was only after drinking and eating with them that they inquired his name and country.” (Diodorus Siculus, V. 28.)
[96] Strabo (IV., p. 162) says that the Gauls were of a frank character and good-hearted (literally, without malice).—Ammianus Marcellinus (XV. 12), who wrote at the end of the fifth century, represents the Gauls as excessively vain.—Strabo (IV., p. 165) assures us that they were much inclined to disputes and quarrels.
[97] Cæsar often speaks of the fickleness of temper of this people, which, during a long period, gave great trouble to the Roman people. “Omnes fere Gallos novis rebus studere, et ad bellum mobiliter celeriterque excitari.” (De Bello Gallico, III 10.)—Lampridius, in his Life of Alexander Severus, 59, expresses himself thus: “But the Gauls, those tempers hard to deal with, and who regret all they have ceased to possess, often furnished grave cares to the emperors.”—“Gallorum subita et repentina consilia.” (De Bello Gallico, III. 8.)
[98] De Bello Gallico, III. 19.
[99] Diodorus Siculus (V. 31) says that the language of the Gauls was very concise and figurative, and that the Gauls made use of hyperbole in blaming and praising.
[100] Diodorus Siculus, V. 32.—Strabo, IV., p. 165.—Athenæus, XIII., p. 603.