Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/125

 ALPE& (u. 65) ippeus to estimate the perpendicular heaght of MDie i the kftiest snmniits at not less ihanjijtif mUes! The la^;th of the whole range is estim^Ued hj PdlflitH si onlj 2200 stadia, while Cadiiu An- tii«ts(<iii0tedhjPUn7iiL 18.8.22) stated it as net less than 1000 miles, reckooing along the foot of the moostains firem sea to sea. Plinj himself esti- BBtes ths same distance calculated from the river Vans to the Axsia at 745 miles, a fair approzima- tiiB to the troth. He also jnstlj remarks that the JtTj Afierent estimates of the breadth of the Alps pTVB br diflerent aaUiors were fomided on the fact ef its gnat inequality: the eastern portion of the nase bet n e e u CSermanT and Italj being not leas than 100 ndles across, while the other portions did not «xcnd7a (P]in.iii. 19. 8. 23.) Strabo tells ns that vbik the more lol^ sommits o{ the Alps were either esrand with perpetoal snow, or so bare and rugged as to be ahogether uninhabitable, the sides were dithsd widi cxtensiTe forests, and the lower slopes and taffies were cultivated and well peopled. There «as bu w e ie i always a scarcity of com, which the JTihalMtantw procured fimm those of the plains in ex- chsage far the productions of their mountains, the dmf of wfaich were resm, pitch, pine wood for torches, wax, hflBMy, and dieese. Previous to the time of Augustus, the Alpdne tribes bad been given to pre- ^isloiy habits, and were continually plundering their mors vedtfay neighbouxs, but after they had been cBopletdy sotbdoed and roads made through their t atiUft ies they devoted themselves more to the arts «f pesoe and husbandry. (Strsb. pp. 206, 207.) ar wexe the Alps wanting in more valuable pro- dactieDs. Gold mines or rather washing were wsked m them in various places, especially in the tBTitocy of the Salasst (the Vol dAo^a), where tiKftcmsas derived a consadersble revenue frwa them; sad in the Noiic Alps, near Aquileia, where gold was fnrad in lamps as big as a bean after digging only a iew leet below the sux&ce (Strsb. pp. 205, 208). Tbe inn mines of the None Alps were also well kaovn to the Bomana, and highly esteemed for the eiceSent qiiality of the metal furnished by them, vkich nas peculiarly well adapted for swords. (Plin. xxziv.l4.B.41;Hor.Carm.l. 16.9,£;)0<izvii.71.) Ths rwk. crystal so abundant in the Alps was much viked by the Bomans, and diligently sought for in cBBaequoMe by the natives. (Plin.xxxvii.2.8.9,10.) Semal hinds of animslw are also noticed by ancient vritefs as peculiar to the Alps; among these are the Cbaoms (tbe rvpieapra of PHny), the Ibex, and the llsrmot. Pliny dso mentions white hares and white pnose or Ptannigan. (Plin. viii. 79. s. 81, x. 68. S.85; Varr. delLILm. 12.) Polybius described a ]ar«e sxumal of the deer kind, but with a neck like a wBA boar, evidently the Elk(Cervus Aloes) now found «dyiB the north of Europe. (¥fAjh,ap.Strab. p. 208.) It would be impossible here to enumerate in detail sO the petty trib« which inhabited the vallies and dnpes of the Alps. The inscription on the trophy of Augustus already mentioned, gives the names of vtt len than iorty-fbor '* Gentes Alpinae devictae," ftisy of which are otherwise wholly unknown (Plin. bL 30. a. 24). The inscription on the arch at Sma i&attifQBs fourteen tribes that were subject to Cottius, «f which the greater part are equally obscure. (OivB. Jn§er, 626; Miltin, Vcy. en PiemorUj vol. L f. 106.) Those tribes, whose locality can be deter- Baoai with tolerable certainty, or whose names ap- pear in histdcy, will be found nnder their respective Btieks: for an examinatioD of the whole list tbe ALPES. 109 reader may consult Walckenaer, Geographie deg Oauks vol. ii. pp. 43 — 66. The eternal snows and glaciers of the Alps are the sources from which flow several of the largest rivers of Europe: the Bhone, the Bhlne, and the Po, as well as the great tributaries of the Danube, the Inn, the Drave and the Save. It would be useless here to enter into a geographical or detailed enumeration of the countless minor streams which derive their sources from the Alps, and which will be found mider the countries to which th^ severally belong. Pastet of the Alps. Many of the passes across the great central chain of the Alps are so clearly indicated by the course of the rivers which rise in them, and the vallies through which these flow, that they must probably have been known to the neighbouring tribes from a very early period. Long bdfore the passage of the western AJpe by Hannibal, we know that these mountains were crossed by successive swarms of Gaulish in- vaders (Polyb. iii. 48 ; Liv. v. 33), and there is every reason to suppose that the more easily accessible passes of the Bhaetian and Julian Alps had afforded a way for the migrations of nations in still earlier ages. The particular route taken by Hannibal is still a subject of controversy.* But it is clear from the whole narrative of Polybius, that it was one already pre- viously known and firequented by the mountaineers that guided him; and a few years Utter his brother Hasdirubal appears to have crossed the same pass with comparatively little difficulty. Polybius, ac- cording to Strabo, was acquainted with only four passes, viz. : I. that through Lignria by the Maritime Alps; 2. that through the Taurini, which was the one traversed by Hannibal; 3. that through the Sa- hissi; and 4. that through the Bhaetians. (Polyb. ap. Strab. p. 209.) At a later period Pampey, on Ids march into Spain (b. c. 77), opened out a pas- sage lor his army, which he describes as " diflerent from that of Hannibal, but more convenient for the Bomans." (Pompeii JEpist, ap, SaUmt. EisL iii. p. 230, ed. Gerlach.) Shortly after this time VaiTo (in a passage in which there appears to be much confusion) speaks ^ jive passes across the Alps (without including the more easterly ones), which be enumerates as follows : " Una, quae est jnzta mare per Liguras; altera qua Hannibal tnmsiit; tertia qua Pompeius ad Sspaniense helium pro- fectus est: quarta qua Hasdrubal de Gallia in Italiam venit: quinta, quae quondam a Graecis possessa est, quae exinde Alpes Graeciae appcl- hintur." (Varr. ap, Serv, ad Am, x. 13.) From the time of the r^uction of the Transalpine Gauls by J. Caesar, and that of the Alpine tribes by Au- gustus, the passes over the Alps came to be well known, and were traversed by high roads, several of which, however, on account of the natural difficulties of the mountuns, were not practicable for carriages. These passes were the following: — 1. '* Per Alpes Mabitikas," along the coast of Liguria, at the foot of the Maritime Alps from Genua to the mouth of the Varus. Though the line of sea-coast must always have offered a natural means of communication, it could hardly have been frequented by the Bomans until the ^-Ud tribes of the Ligurians had been efiectually subdued ; and it appears certain that no regular road was constructed vol. ii. p. 333, and the works there refen-ed to.
 * See the article HAinfiBAL,in the Diet. ofBiogr.