6. The mountains of the Salyes incline gently from west to north in proportion as they retire from the sea. The coast runs west, and extending a short distance, about 100 stadia, from Marseilles, it begins to assume the character of a gulf at a considerable promontory near to certain stone quarries, and extending to the Aphrodisium, the headland which terminates the Pyrenees,[1340] forms the Galatic Gulf,[1341] which is also called the Gulf of Marseilles: it is double, for in its circuit Mount Setium[1342] stands out together with the island of Blascon,[1343] which is situated close to it, and separates the two gulfs. The larger of these is properly designated the Galatic Gulf, into which the Rhone discharges itself; the smaller is on the coast of Narbonne, and extends as far as the Pyrenees. Narbonne is situated above the outlets of the Aude[1344] and the lake of Narbonne.[1345] It is the principal commercial city on this coast. On the Rhone is Arelate,[1346] a city and emporium of considerable traffic. The distance between these two cities is nearly equal to that which separates them from the aforesaid promontories, namely, Narbonne from the Aphrodisium, and Arelate from the cape of Marseilles. There are other rivers besides which flow on either side of Narbonne, some from the Cevennes, others from the Pyrenees. Along these rivers are situated cities having but little commerce, and that in small vessels. The rivers which proceed from the Pyrenees, are the Tet[1347] and the Tech;[1348] two cities[1349] are built on them, which bear respectively the same name as the rivers. There is a lake near to Ruscino,[1350] and a little above the sea a marshy district full of salt-springs, which supplies “dug mullets,” for whoever digs two or three feet and plunges a trident into the muddy water, will be sure to take the fish, which are worthy of consideration on account of their size; they are nourished in the mud like eels. Such are the rivers which flow from the Pyrenees between Narbonne and the promontory on which is built the temple of Venus. On the other side of Narbonne the following rivers descend from the Cevennes into the sea. The Aude,[1351] the Orbe,[1352] and the Rauraris.[1353] On one of these[1354] is situated the strong city of Bætera,[1355] near to Narbonne; on the other Agatha,[1356] founded by the people of Marseilles.
7. Of one marvel of this sea-coast, namely the “dug mullets,” we have already spoken; we will now mention another, even more surprising. Between Marseilles and the outlets of the Rhone there is a circular plain, about 100 stadia distant from the sea, and about 100 stadia in diameter. It has received the name of the Stony Plain, from the circumstance of its being covered with stones the size of the fist, from beneath which an abundant herbage springs up for the pasturage of cattle. In the midst of it are water, salt-springs, and salt. The whole both of this district and that above it is exposed to the wind, but in this plain the black north,[1357] a violent and horrible wind, rages especially: for they say that sometimes the stones are swept and rolled along, and men hurled from their carriages and stripped both of their arms and garments by the force of the tempest. Aristotle tells us that these stones being cast up by the earthquakes designated brastai,[1358] and falling on the surface of the earth, roll into the hollow places of the districts; but Posidonius, that the place was formerly a lake, which being congealed during a violent agitation, became divided into numerous stones, like river pebbles or the stones by the sea-shore, which they resemble both as to smoothness, size, and appearance. Such are the causes assigned by these two [writers]; however, neither of their opinions is credible,[1359] for these stones could neither have thus accumulated of themselves, nor yet have been formed by congealed moisture, but necessarily from the fragments of large stones shattered by frequent convulsions. Æschylus having, however, learnt of the difficulty of accounting for it, or having been so informed by another, has explained it away as a myth. He makes Prometheus utter the following, whilst directing Hercules the road from the Caucasus to the Hesperides:
“There you will come to the undaunted army of the Ligurians, where, resistless though you be, sure am I you will not worst them in battle; for it is fated that there your darts shall fail you; nor will you be able to take up a stone from the ground, since the country consists of soft mould; but Jupiter, beholding your distress, will compassionate you, and overshadowing the earth with a cloud, he will cause it to hail round stones, which you hurling against the Ligurian army, will soon put them to flight!”[1360]
Posidonius asks, would it not have been better to have rained down these stones upon the Ligurians themselves, and thus have destroyed them all, than to make Hercules in need of so many stones? As for the number, they were necessary against so vast a multitude; so that in this respect the writer of the myth seems to me deserving of more credit than he who would refute it. Further, the poet, in describing it as fated, secures himself against such fault-finding. For if you dispute Providence and Destiny, you can find many similar things both in human affairs and nature, that you would suppose might be much better performed in this or that way; as for instance, that Egypt should have plenty of rain of its own, without being irrigated from the land of Ethiopia. That it would have been much better if Paris had suffered shipwreck on his voyage to Sparta, instead of expiating his offences after having carried off Helen, and having been the cause of so great destruction both amongst the Greeks and Barbarians. Euripides attributes this to Jupiter:
“Father Jupiter, willing evil to the Trojans and suffering to the Greeks, decreed such things.”
8. As to the mouths of the Rhone, Polybius asserts that there are but two, and blames Timæus[1361] for saying five. Artemidorus says that there are three. Afterwards Marius, observing that the mouth was becoming stopped up and difficult of entrance on account of the deposits of mud, caused a new channel to be dug, which received the greater part of the river into it.[1362] This he gave to the people of Marseilles in recompense for their services in the war against the Ambrones and Toygeni.[1363] This canal became to them a source of much revenue, as they levied a toll from all those who sailed up or down it: notwithstanding, the entrance [to the river] still continues difficult to navigate, on account of its great impetuosity, its deposits, and the [general] flatness of the country, so that in foul weather you cannot clearly discern the land even when quite close. On this account the people of Marseilles, who wished by all means to inhabit the country, set up towers as beacons; they have even erected a temple to Diana of Ephesus on a piece of the land, which the mouths of the rivers have formed into an island. Above the outlets of the Rhone is a salt-lake which they call Stomalimnè.[1364] It abounds in shell and other fish. There are some who enumerate this amongst the mouths of the Rhone, especially those who say that it has seven[1365] mouths. But in this they are quite mistaken; for there is a mountain between, which separates the lake from the river. Such then is the disposition and extent of the coast from the Pyrenees to Marseilles.
9. The [coast] which extends from this [last city] to the river Var, and the Ligurians who dwell near it, contains the Massilian cities of Tauroentium,[1366] Olbia,[1367] Antipolis,[1368] Nicæa,[1369] and the sea-port of Augustus Cæsar, called Forum Julium,[1370] which is situated between Olbia and Antipolis, and distant from Marseilles about 600 stadia. The Var is between Antipolis and Nicæa; distant from the one about 20 stadia, from the other about 60; so that according to the boundary now marked Nicæa belongs to Italy, although it is a city of the people of Marseilles, for they built these cities [as a defence] against the barbarians who dwelt higher up the country, in order to maintain the sea free, as the barbarians possessed the land. For this [region] is mountainous and fortified by nature, leaving however a considerable extent of plain country near Marseilles; but as you proceed towards the east the country is so hemmed in by the mountains, as scarcely to leave a sufficient road for passage by the sea-shore. The former districts are inhabited by the Salyes,[1371] the latter by the Ligurians, who border on Italy, of whom we shall speak afterwards. It should here be mentioned, that although Antipolis is situated in the Narbonnaise, and Nicæa in Italy, this latter is dependent on Marseilles, and forms part of that province; while Antipolis is ranked amongst the Italian cities, and freed from the government of the Marseillese by a judgment given against them.
10. Lying off this narrow pass along the coast, as you commence your journey from Marseilles, are the Stœchades islands.[1372] Three of these are considerable, and two small. They are cultivated by the people of Marseilles. Anciently they contained a garrison, placed here to defend them from the attacks of pirates, for they have good ports. After the Stœchades come [the islands of] Planasia[1373] and Lero,[1374] both of them inhabited. In Lero, which lies opposite to Antipolis, is a temple erected to the hero Lero. There are other small islands not worth mentioning, some of them before Marseilles, others before the rest of the coast which I have been describing. As to the harbours, those of the sea-port [of Forum-Julium][1375] and Marseilles are considerable, the others are but middling. Of this latter class is the port Oxybius,[1376] so named from the Oxybian Ligurians.—This concludes what we have to say of this coast.
11. The country above this is bounded principally by the surrounding mountains and rivers. Of these the Rhone is the most remarkable, being both the largest, and capable of being navigated farther than any of the others, and also receiving into it a greater number of tributaries; of these we must speak in order. Commencing at Marseilles, and proceeding to the country between the Alps and the Rhone, to the river Durance, dwell the Salyes for a space of 500 stadia. From thence you proceed in a ferry-boat to the city of Caballio;[1377] beyond this the whole country belongs to the Cavari as far as the junction of the Isère with the Rhone; it is here too that the Cevennes approach the Rhone. From the Durance to this point is a distance of 700 stadia.[1378] The Salyes occupy the plains and mountains above these. The Vocontii, Tricorii, Iconii, and Medylli, lie above the Cavari.[1379] Between the Durance and the Isère there are other rivers which flow from the Alps into the Rhone; two of these, after having flowed round the city of the Cavari, discharge themselves by a common outlet into the Rhone. The Sulgas,[1380] which is the third, mixes with the Rhone near the city of Vindalum,[1381] where Cnæus Ænobarbus in a decisive engagement routed many myriads of the Kelts. Between these are the cities of Avenio,[1382] Arausio,[1383] and Aëria,[1384] which latter, remarks Artemidorus, is rightly named aërial, being situated in a very lofty position. The whole of this country consists of plains abounding in pasturage, excepting on the route from Aëria to Avenio, where there are narrow defiles and woods to traverse. It was at the point where the river Isère and the Rhone unite near the Cevennes, that Quintus Fabius Maximus Æmilianus,[1385] with scarcely 30,000 men, cut to pieces 200,000 Kelts.[1386] Here he erected a white stone as a trophy, and two temples, one to Mars, and the other to Hercules. From the Isère to Vienne, the metropolis of the Allobroges, situated on the Rhone, the distance is 320 stadia. Lugdunum[1387] is a little above Vienne at the confluence of the Saone[1388] and the Rhone. The distance by land [from this latter city] to Lugdunum, passing through the country of the Allobroges, is about 200 stadia, and rather more by water. Formerly the Allobroges engaged in war, their armies consisting of many myriads; they now occupy themselves in cultivating the plains and valleys of the Alps. They dwell generally in villages, the most notable of them inhabiting Vienne, which was merely a village, although called the metropolis of their nation; they have now improved and embellished it as a city; it is situated on the Rhone. So full and rapid is the descent of this river from the Alps, that the flow of its waters through Lake Leman may be distinguished for many stadia. Having descended into the plains of the countries of the Allobroges, and Segusii, it falls into the Saone, near to Lugdunum, a city of the Segusii.[1389] The Saone rises in the Alps,[1390] and separates the Sequani, the Ædui, and the Lincasii.[1391] It afterwards receives the Doubs, a navigable river which rises in the same mountains,[1392] still however preserving its own name, and consisting of the two, mingles with the Rhone. The Rhone in like manner preserves its name, and flows on to Vienne. At their rise these three rivers flow towards the north, then in a westerly direction, afterwards uniting into one they take another turn and flow towards the south, and having received other rivers, they flow in this direction to the sea. Such is the country situated between the Alps and the Rhone.
12. The main part of the country on the other side of the Rhone is inhabited by the Volcæ, surnamed Arecomisci. Their naval station is Narbonne, which may justly be called the emporium of all Gaul, as it far surpasses every other in the multitude of those who resort[1393] to it. The Volcæ border on the Rhone, the Salyes and Cavari being opposite to them on the other side of the river. However, the name of the Cavari has so obtained, that all the barbarians inhabiting near now go by that designation; nay, even those who are no longer barbarians, but follow the Roman customs, both in their speech and mode of life, and some of those even who have adopted the Roman polity. Between the Arecomisci and the Pyrenees there are some other small and insignificant nations. Nemausus[1394] is the metropolis of the Arecomisci; though far inferior to Narbonne both as to its commerce, and the number of foreigners attracted thither, it surpasses that city in the number of its citizens; for it has under its dominion four and twenty different villages all well inhabited, and by the same people, who pay tribute; it likewise enjoys the rights of the Latin towns, so that in Nemausus you meet with Roman citizens who have obtained the honours of the ædile and quæstorship, wherefore this nation is not subject to the orders issued by the prætors from Rome. The city is situated on the road from Iberia to Italy; this road is very good in the summer, but muddy and overflowed by the rivers during winter and spring. Some of these streams are crossed in ferry-boats, and others by means of bridges constructed either of wood or stone. The inundations which destroy the roads are caused by the winter torrents, which sometimes pour down from the Alps even in summer-time after the melting of the snows. To perform the route before mentioned, the shortest way is, as we have said, across the territory of the Vocontii direct to the Alps; the other, along the coast of Marseilles and Liguria, is longer, although it offers an easier passage into Italy, as the mountains are lower. Nemausus is about 100 stadia distant from the Rhone, situated opposite to the small town of Tarascon, and about 720 stadia from Narbonne. The Tectosages,[1395] and certain others whom we shall mention afterwards, border on the range of the Cevennes, and inhabit its southern side as far as the promontory of the Volcæ. Respecting all the others we will speak hereafter.