5.34
About the passage of the
Gauls into Italy we have received the following
account. Whilst Tarquinius Priscus was king of Rome,
the supreme power amongst the Celts, who formed a
third part of the whole of Gaul, was in the hands of
the Bituriges; they used to furnish the king for the
whole Celtic race. Ambigatus was king at that time,
a man eminent for his own personal courage and
prosperity as much as for those of his dominions.
During his sway the harvests were so abundant and
the population increased so rapidly in Gaul that the
government of such vast numbers seemed almost
impossible. He was now an old man, and anxious to
relieve his realm from the burden of
over-population. With this view he signified his
intention of sending his sister's sons Bellovesus
and Segovesus, both enterprising young men, to
settle in whatever locality the gods should by
augury assign to them. They were to invite as many
as wished to accompany them, sufficient to prevent
any nation from repelling their approach. When the
auspices were taken, the Hercynian forest was
assigned to Segovesus; to Bellovesus the gods gave
the far pleasanter way into Italy. He invited the
surplus population of six tribes -the Bituriges,
the Averni, the Senones, the Aedui, the Ambarri, the
Carnutes, and the Aulerci. Starting with an enormous
force of horse and foot, he came to the Tricastini.
Beyond stretched the barrier of the Alps, and I am
not at all surprised that they appeared
insurmountable, for they had never yet been
surmounted by any route, as far at least as unbroken
memory reaches, unless you choose to believe the
fables about Hercules. Whilst the mountain heights
kept the Gauls fenced in as it were there, and they
were looking everywhere to see by what path they
could cross the peaks which reached to heaven and so
enter a new world, they were also prevented from
advancing by a sense of religious obligation, for
news came that some strangers in quest of territory
were being attacked by the Salyi. These were
Massilians who had sailed from Phocaea. The Gauls,
looking upon this as an omen of their own fortunes,
went to their assistance and enabled them to fortify
the spot where they had first landed, without any
interference from the Salyi. After crossing the Alps
by the passes of the Taurini and the valley of the
Douro, they defeated the Tuscans in battle not far
from the Ticinus, and when they learnt that the
country in which they had settled belonged to the
Insubres, a name also borne by a canton of the
Haedui, they accepted the omen of the place and
built a city which they called Mediolanum.