Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/207

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CHAP. V. § 29, 30.
INTRODUCTION.
193

towards the north and Britain. It is here that the breadth of Keltica is the narrowest, being contracted into an isthmus less than 3000 stadia, but more than 2000. Whithin this region there is a mountain ridge, named Mount Cemmenus,[p 1] which runs nearly at right angles to the Pyrenees, and terminates in the central plains of Keltica.[1] The Alps, which are a very lofty range of mountains, form a curved line, the convex side of which is turned towards the plains of Keltica, mentioned before, and Mount Cemmenus, and the concave towards Liguria[p 2] and Italy.

The Alps are inhabited by numerous nations, but all Keltic with the exception of the Ligurians, and these, though of a different race, closely resemble them in their manner of life. They inhabit that portion of the Alps which is next the Apennines, and also a part of the Apennines themselves. This latter mountain ridge traverses the whole length of Italy from north to south, and terminates at the Strait of Sicily.

29. The first parts of Italy are the plains situated under the Alps, as far as the recess of the Adriatic and the neighbouring places.[2] The parts beyond form a narrow and long slip, resembling a peninsula, traversed, as I have said, throughout its length by the Apennines; its length is 7000 stadia, but its breadth is very unequal. The seas which form the peninsula of Italy are, the Tyrrhenian, which commences from the Ligurian, the Ausonian, and the Adriatic.[3]

30. After Italy and Heltica, the remainder of Europe extends towards the east, and is divided into two by the Danube. This river flows from west to east, and discharges itself into the Euxine Sea, leaving on its left the entire of Germany commencing from the Rhine, as well as the whole of the Getæ,

  1. ↑ The Cevennes.
  2. ↑ Genoa.
  1. ↑ This ridge commences at the eastern part of the Pyrenees. Its ramifications extend to about Dijon.
  2. ↑ The Romans gave to the whole of this country, which was peopled by a race of Keltic extraction, the name of Cisalpine Gaul, because situated on this side the Alps, with respect to them. France was designated Transalpine Gaul.
  3. ↑ The Tyrrhenian or Tuscan Sea commenced about the mouth of the Arno, and extended as far as Naples. The Ligurian Sea is the Gulf of Genoa. The Ausonian Sea, afterwards called the Sea of Sicily, washes the southern parts of Italy. The Adriatic Gulf, is the Gulf of Venice.
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