Kitap 5
1.11
Both in Cispadana and around the Po there are some fine cities. PlacentiaPiacenza and Cremona, situated about the middle of the country, are close to each other. Between these and Ariminum,Rimini. are Parma, Mutina,Modena. and Bononia,Bologna. which is near to Ravenna; amongst these are smaller cities on the route to Rome, as Acara,Probably corrupt. Rhegium-Lepidum,Reggio in Modena. Macri-Campi,Between Parma and Modena, the Val di Montirone and Orte Ma. where a public festival is held every year, Claterna,Quaderna. Forum-Cornelium;Imola. while FaventiaFaenza. and Caesena, situated near to the river SavioAncient Sapis. and the Rubicon,Probably Pisatello. are adjacent to Ariminum. Ariminum, like Ravenna, is an ancient colony of the Ombri. but both of them have received also Roman colonies. Anminum has a port and a riverThe Marecchia. of the same name as itself. From Placentia to Ariminum there are 1300 stadia. About 36 miles above Placentia, towards the boundaries of the kingdom of Cottius, is the city of Ticinum,Pavia. by which flows a riverThe Ticino. bearing the same name, which falls into the Po, while a little out of the route are Clastidium,Castezzio. Derthon,Tortona. and Aquae-Statiellae.Acqui, on the left bank of the Bormia. But the direct route as far as Ocelum,Ucello. along the Po and the Doria Riparia,δουοͅίας. is full of precipices, intersected by numerous other rivers, one of which is the Durance,The ancient Druentia. and is about 160 miles long. Here commence the Alpine mountains and Keltica.Transalpine Gaul. Near to the mountains above Luna is the city of Lucca. Some [of the people of this part of Italy] dwell in villages, nevertheless it is well populated, and furnishes the greater part of the military force, and of equites, of whom the senate is partly composed. Derthon is a considerable city, situated about half way on the road from Genoa to Placentia, which are distant 400 stadia from each other. Aquae-Statiellae is on the same route. That from Placentia to Ariminum we have already described, but the sail to Ravenna down the Po requires two days and nights. AFrom here to the word Derthon the text appears to be corrupt. great part of Cispadana likewise was covered by marshes, through which Hannibal passed with difficulty on his march into Tyrrhenia.Tuscany. But Scaurus drained the plains by navigable canals from the PoCluvier proposes to read from Placentia to Parma; he has been followed throughout the passage by the French translators. to the country of the Parmesans. For the Trebia meeting the Po near Placentia, and having previously received many other rivers, is over-swollen near this place. I allude to the ScaurusM. Aemilius Scaurus. who also made the Aemilian road through Pisa and Luna as far as Sabbatorum, and thence through Derthon. There is another Aemilian road, which continues the Flaminian. For Marcus Lepidus and Caius Flaminius being colleagues in the consulship, and having vanquished the Ligurians, the one made the Via Flaminia from Rome across Tyrrhenia and Ombrica as far as the territory of Ariminum,Strabo here falls into a mistake in attributing to C. Flaminius Nepos, who was consul in the year of Rome 567, 187 years before the Christian era, the construction of the Via Flaminia which led from the Portus Flumentana to the city of Ariminum. According to most Latin authors, this grand route was formed by C. Flaminius Nepos, censor in the year of Rome 534, and 220 years before the Christian era (the same who three years afterwards was slain at the battle of Thrasymenus). Livy, whose authority is certainly of great weight, speaking of the grand road made by C. Flaminius Nepos, consul in the year of Rome 567, states expressly that it led from Bologna to Arezzo. Hist. lib. xxxix. § 2. the other, the road as far as Bononia,Bologna. and thence to AquileiaMaffei proposes to substitute Placentia for Aquilena. by the roots of the Alps, and encircling the marshes. The boundaries which separate from the rest of Italy this country, which we designate Citerior Keltica,Cisalpine Gaul. were marked by the Apennine mountains above Tyrrhenia and the river Esino,The ancient Aesis, now Esino, named also Fiumesino. and afterwards by the Rubicon.Probably the Pisatello. Both these rivers fall into the Adriatic.
