From Classical Geography, by H. F. Tozer, from the series of Literature Primers edited by John Richard Green; New York : American Book Company; pp. 120-127.
[120]
CLASSICAL GEOGRAPHY
CHAPTER XI.
THE OUTLYING COUNTRIES OF EUROPE.
1. Hispania or Iberia. — Spain, from its broad surface, had been compared to a bull’s hide, the neckpiece being formed by the isthmus that joins it to France. From its outlying position relatively to the rest of Europe, and the massive conformation of its surface, it also resembles one of the bastions that stand out from the angles of a fortified city. Its geography is at once marked and simple. Its boundaries are the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and the Pyrenees. Its mountains, instead of running southward through the country, as in Italy and Greece, form a succession of parallel ranges, the general direction of which is from east to west. Between these lie extensive plains, increasing in elevation towards the centre of the country, which is a very lofty table-land. These plains are drained by a number of large rivers, only one of which, the Ibērus (Ebro), reaches the Mediterranean, while the others flow into the Atlantic, viz., the Durius (Douro), Tagus, Anas (Guadiana), and Bætis (Guadalquiver). From this it will be seen that the watershed of the peninsula is much nearer to the eastern than the western coast. From Africa it was divided by the Fretum Gaditanum (Straits of Gibraltar), where stood the two lofty rocks which are known as the Pillars of Hercules (see p. 11). 121 The whole country was divided by the Romans, at first into Hispania Citerior and Ulterior, the Iberus being the limit of the two; and afterwards into the three provinces of Tarraconensis, Lusitania, and Bætica; of which Lusitania corresponds to the country of Portugal, Bætica to the province of Andalusia, while the rest was comprehended by Tarraconensis.
2. Spanish Tribes and Cities. — The position of the principal native tribes can best be described by the rivers in the neighbourhood of which they lay. About the upper course of the Durius the Vaccaei were settled; about that of the Tagus the Carpetāni, with Tolētum (Toledo) for their capital; about that of the Anas the Oretāni, while the Turdetāni lived about the mouth of the Bætis. On the great watershed, and in its neighbourhood, lay the Celtibēri, in the north of whose territory was Numantia, famous for its siege and capture by Scipio Africanus (B.C. 134). To the east of the Iberus lay the Ilergĕrtes in the neighbourhood of that river, whose chief city was Ilerda, the Lacetāni between them and the Pyrenees, and the Ausetāni between them again and the sea; these tribes became familiar to the Romans in the course of the Punic wars. Towards the centre of the north coast were the Cantabri and Astŭres. The principal cities were (beginning from the north-east and following the coast) Tarrăco (Tarragona) on the hither side of the Iberus, and Intibĭli on the further side; southwards of these Saguntum, and opposite the African coast Carthago Nova (Cartagena), in the recesses of one of the finest harbours in Europe. Beyond the Straits was the ancient Phœnician colony of Gades (Cadiz), standing at the end of an island which projected in front of its harbour in a position recalling that of Syracuse. Somewhere in this neighbourhood, towards the mouth of the Bætis, must have been the position of Tartessus. Following up that river we come first to Hispălis (Seville), then to Cordŭba (Cordova), and lastly to Illiturgis. The final establishment of the Roman 122 dominion in the country is marked by the names of a number of colonies, the principal of which were Cæsar Augusta (Zaragoza) on the Iberus in the north-east, Emerita Augusta (Merida) on the Anas in the south-west, and Asturica Augusta (Astorga) and Lucus Augusti (Lugo) in the north-west. In the three last-named towns there are extensive remains of walls or public buildings dating from Roman Times. The Balearic Islands, which lay off the east coast, were famous for their slingers.
3. Gallia. — The boundaries of Gaul on three sides were the Ocean, the Pyrenees, and the Mediterranean; on the eastern side it was separated from Italy by the Alps, from Helvetia by the Jura, and from Germany by the Rhine; though, as mountains are more real boundaries than rivers, (See General remarks, p. 18), the Mons Vosĕgus (Vosges), along the western side of the upper course of that river, would form the more natural limit. The passes of the Alps, by which it could be entered from Italy, have already been given (p. 94); those through the Pyrenees from the side of Spain, were at the eastern and western extremities of the chain, near where it abuts on the two seas. Like Spain, it was a land of great rivers, and its geography is best determined by their watersheds. The one which divides the northern from the southern part of the country runs westward from the southern extremity of the Vosges, separating the head-waters of the Arar (Saône), which flows southward and joins the Rhodănus (Rhone) at Lugdūnum (Lyons), from those that flow northward — the Mosella (Moselle) into the Rhenus (Rhine), and the Mosa (Meuse) and Sequăna (Seine) into the Ocean. On the other hand, the watershed of southern Gaul, starting from the western extremity of this, runs southward, as the Mons Cevenna (Cevennes) on the west bank of the Arar and Rhodanus, and reaches almost to the foot of the Pyrenees, separating those rivers from the Liger (Loire) and Garumna (Garonne), with their tributaries. The only 123 one of these streams that flows into the Mediterranean, the Rhone, rises in Helvetia near the sources of the Rhine, and after being joined by the Arar, receives on its eastern side two other rivers, which flow from the Alps, the Isăra (Isère) and Druentia (Durance).
4. Provinces, Tribes, and Cities of Gaul. — The Romans divided Gaul into four provinces — Belgica in the north-east, Lugdunensis in the centre, reaching from Helvetia (Switzerland) as far as the extreme west of Armorica (Brittany), and extending as far south as Lugdūnum, its capital city; Aquitania in the south-west; and Narbonensis in the south-east, between the Cevennes, the Alps, and the Mediterranean. The last-named district was called in Cæsar’s time the Provincia, and before that time Braccāta, because the inhabitants wore breeches; while the remaining area was called Comāta, from the long hair of its occupants. To distinguish it from the Gallic territory of North Italy, the whole country was called Gallia Transalpina. This comprised the modern territories of France, Belgium, and part of Holland. In noticing the principal tribes, we shall observe that the name of a tribe has not unfrequently passed into that of a modern city, which was originally its head-quarters (so Augusta Taurinorum is now Turin). About the mouths of the Rhine and Meuse lay the Batăvi, and along the Rhine, between the Meuse and Moselle, the Ubii. South of this tribe was a wide extent of forest land, the Arduenna Silva (Ardennes). About the middle course of the Moselle lay the Trevĭri (Trêves), and higher up the Mediomatrici, with the town of Divodūrum (Metz) : at the head-waters of that stream and the Meuse, the Leuci, and at those of the Seine the Lingŏnes (Langres). West of the Lingones, between the Seine and Loire, were the Senŏnes. Further south, on the east of the Saône lay the Sequăni, on the west the Ædui; and south of these, beyond the upper stream of the Loire, the Arverni (Auvergne). Lastly, the country to the south-east 124 of Lyons was occupied by the Allobrŏges, and that between the Isara and Druentia by the Vocontii. The principal towns in the centre of the country were Avaricum (Bourges) and Genăbum (Orleans), on the Loire about the middle of its course, and Lutetia (Paris), the chief city of the Parisü, on the Seine. Of the scenes of Cæsar’s two great victories, Alesia, where Vercingetorix was captured, was in the centre of the country near the meeting of the two watersheds, while Uxellodūnum, where the final struggle took place, was in Aquitania, on one of the tributaries of the Garonne. The most highly civilised province was Narbonensis, and the evidence of this remains in the numerous specimens of Roman architecture which are preserved in that country. A short distance to the east of the mouths of the Rhone stood Massilia (Marseilles), originally a Phocæan colony, which, in consequence of its fine harbour, has been throughout its long history the great port of the country on the Mediterranean.
5. Britannia. — Virgil speaks of the Britanni as “penitus toto divisos orbe,” and the country of that remote people need not delay us long. Its two principal rivers, the Tamĕsis (Thames) and Sabrīna (Severn), flow respectively into the eastern and western sea. Its mountains lie in the north and west of the country, and the low hills that intersect it elsewhere were not such as seriously to impede an invading force. Indeed in ancient times, as now, the sea was its safeguard, owing to the difficulty of landing, and the danger of the return being cut off in case of defeat. In order to prevent incursions from the tribes further north, the Emperor Adrian constructed a massive wall from the Solway Firth to the eastern coast; and Antoninus Pius drew a rampart across at a still more advanced point between the Firths of Clyde and Forth, where Agricola had before established a line of forts. To the north of this was the district called Caledonia. Two islands lay close to the coast at different points, separated by narrow straits, viz., Mona 125 (Isle of Anglesea) and Vectis (Isle of Wight). But the most famous islands in that neighbourhood in ancient times were the Cassiterides (Scilly Islands), off the west coast of Cornwall, to which the Phœnician traders resorted for the tin that was found on the mainland. The principal tribes were the Damnonii in Devon and Cornwall; the Belgæ, reaching from Hampshire to the Bristol Channel, with Venta Belgarum (Winchester) for their capital; the Cantii in Kent, with the port of Rutupiæ (Richborough) on their east coast, famous for its oysters, and the chief landing-place in that quarter; the Trinobantes in Essex; the Icēni in Norfolk and Suffolk; the Silŭres in South Wales; and the Brigantes in the north of the country, as far as Adrian’s wall. The two principal towns were Eborăcum (York) in the north, and Londinium (London) in the south. The evidence of Roman occupation is found in the numerous names of towns which end in chester and cester, i.e., “castra,” as Winchester, Gloucester, &c. What place is meant by the Thule of the Romans we do not know; but some persons have identified it with Iceland, some with one of the Shetlands, and others with Norway.
6. Germania. — In speaking on ancient Germany, we must carefully distinguish between the country of Germania, which nearly corresponds to the territory occupied by the modern Germans, and the Germaniæ, or two provinces created by Augustus on the left or western bank of the Rhine. These were called Germania Superior and Inferior, according to their position along the course of the stream, so that the upper province was that which lay the further to the south. This extended from Basilia (Bâle) to Mogontiacum (Mayence), and was enclosed between the Rhine and the Vosges Mountains; while the lower province reached from that point to the sea on the coasts of the Batavi, its most important and most central city being Colonia Agrippinensis (Cologne). About half-way between that place and the sea lay Castra Vetera, the 126 principal military station on the Lower Rhine, and near the mouth of that river, Lugdūnum Batavorum (Leyden). The territory of these provinces, it will be seen, was taken out of Gaul, though the population was for the most part German. The country of Germania lay between the Rhine and the Vistula, and between the Baltic and the Danube. Almost all the rivers of the area thus enclosed flowed northward, the principal being the Visurgis (Weser), Albis (Elbe), and Viĕdus (Oder). The mountains which lay in the southern portion are shown to have been densely wooded by the term Silva which is frequently applied to them : the name Hercynia Silva was vaguely used to designate them all. The barbarous tribes by whom Germany was peopled offered a stubborn resistance to the Roman arms, and the names of several of them became famous at a later time, when they in their turn invaded Italy. Those most frequently mentioned are the following. To the north of the Danube, the Quadi towards the east, the Marcomanni in the centre, and the Alemanni in the west towards the Black Forest; northward of whom, towards the interior of the country, were the Chatti and Cherusci; of the latter of these the famous Arminius was a chieftain. Along the right bank of the Rhine below Mogontiacum the Ubii, Sicambri, Tenctĕri, and Bructĕri; and on the shores of the German Ocean the Frisii in modern Holland and Friesland, and the Chauci. To the west of the lower course of the Albis the Langobardi; between that river and the Baltic the Saxŏnes and Angli, and in the Cimbric peninsula (Jutland) the Cimbri. Many of these tribes were comprehended under the general name of Suevi, though its application varied at different periods. The north of Germany was known to the Greeks at an early date through the amber (electrum) which was found on the shores of the Baltic, and brought southwards by traders to the Mediterranean.
7. The Provinces bordering on the Danube. — The country that lay to the south of the upper 127 waters of the Danumbe was called Vindelicia, and was for the most part a level district; the Alpine region between this and Italy, bounded on the west by the country of the Helvetii, was called Rhætia (Tyrol and the Grisons); its principal city was Curia Rhætorum (Chur). To the east of these two provinces, and separated from them by the Ænus (Inn), lay Noricum, which was famed for the iron and steel which were obtained from its extensive mines. Some distance further to the east the Danube, which hitherto has flowed generally eastward, makes a sudden bend to the south, after which it resumes its original direction. Between Noricum and this long southward reach lay Pannonia, the westward part of which was called Upper, the eastward Lower Pannonia. The greater part of this area was a plain, and it was watered in its southern part by two important rivers, the Dravus (Drave) and Savus (Save), both of which flowed into the Danube. Its principal towns were Vindobōna (Vienna) on the Danube, near the frontier of Noricum, Petovio on the Drave in Upper Pannonia, the military headquarters of the Romans, and Sirmium on the Save in Lower Pannonia, which ultimately became the most important place in the country. The territory that lay between Pannonia and the Euxine, and between the Danube and the Hæmus and Dinaric Alps, corresponding to the modern Servia and Bulgaria, formed the two provinces of Mœsia Superior and Inferior, the titles being given according to their position on the course of the stream, as was also the case with those that lay about the Nile and Rhine. The vast plains to the north of the Danube, which now form the Danubian principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, were the ancient Dacia; this was not conquered by the Romans until the time of Trajan, who established numerous colonies in the country. These have left behind them a permanent influence in the Wallachian language, which is as lineal a descendant of Latin as French and Italian.
[THE END]
[The End of Classical Geography,
By H. F. Tozer.]