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

 CHAP. v. $ 29, 30. INTRODUCTION. ing towards the north and Britain. It is here tl breadth of Keltica is the narrowest, being contracte an isthmus less than 3000 stadia, but more than 2000. this region there is a mountain ridge, named Mount Cemme- nus, 1 which runs nearly at right angles to the Pyrenees, and terminates in the central plains of Keltica. 2 The Alps, which are a very lofty range of mountains, form a curved line, the convex side ofwhich is turnedLtowardalhe plains of Keltica, "mentioned before^ and Mount Cemmenus, and the concave towards JLiguria 3 ajid J/taly. The^Alps afe'mhabited by numerousjaations, but all Keltic with the exception of the Ligurians, and these, though oi" a different race, closely reseniblethem in their manner of life. They inhabit that portion of the Alps which is next the Apen- nines, and also a part of the Apennines themselves. This latter mountain ridge traverses the whole length ojLItaly from north to south, and terminates at the Straff 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 neigh- bouring places. 4 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. 5 30. j^tjr^talv_and_^eltica, the remainder of Europe ex- tendstpwardstheeast, and is divided into two_by the Danube. This riveFITows'lroPl west to.. .east, fl.nd disp.ha.rgp.a it.sp.1f into the Euxine Sea, leaving on its left the entire of Germany com- mencing from the Rhine, as wej^ as the whole of the Getre, 1 The Cevennes. 2 This ridge commences at the eastern part of the Pyrenees. Its ramifications extend to about Dijon. 3 Genoa. 4 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 Trans- alpine Gaul. 5 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. VOL. i. o