Page:The Rise of the Swiss Republic (1892).djvu/28

 

GREAT historical gap exists between the time when the lake dwellings ceased to be inhabited and the period in which the country is first mentioned in literature. The earliest written information is derived from Latin authors who described the country as it appeared in the century which preceded the birth of Christ, and who had either themselves come into contact with the land and people, or had noted down what they had heard from others. They represent the country as inhabited almost exclusively by Celts, grouped into three nations or Confederations, and six independent tribes, overlapping on all sides into territory not now comprised by Switzerland, so that the picture they offer is not that of a political unit by any means, but rather a conglomeration of numerous hostile states.

Of the six independent tribes, the Allobroges occupied Savoy and the region around Geneva; the Sequani dwelt in the Jura and a part of the Franche Comté; the Raurici in Southern Elsass and the region around Basel; the Viberi and Lepontii, of Liburian origin, in the Upper Valais and Ticino; and the Vindiceli upon the shores of Lake Constance and in the adjacent districts. As these tribes do not play a significant part in history, they may with safety be set aside. Of the three nations, that of the Raeti, containing Etruscan elements, was in possession of the modern Canton of Grisons and the neighboring Tyrol; the Gaesatae consisted of three small but warlike tribes in the lower Valais; and the Helvetii, 