Histoire des Celtes

One can therefore generally place enough trust in the histories written since the expeditions I have just mentioned. The Country of the Celts was open in their time. People traveled there freely, so that one was in a position to receive good records, whereas one must be extremely distrustful of the authors who preceded these expeditions. Julius Caesar, for example, deserves much faith when he speaks of the Gauls, where he had lived for nearly ten years, but he says almost nothing of the Germans that does not prove he was poorly informed. Pliny the Elder, on the contrary, and Tacitus, are those who knew Germany best. Both had made (*) There are five groups of Germans: the Vindili, of whom a part are the Burgundians, Varini, Carini, and Guttones. Another group, the Ingaevones, which includes the Cimbri, Teutons, and the tribes of the Chauci. Closest to the Rhine are the Istaevones, including the Sicambri, and the inland Hermiones, who include the Suebi, Hermunduri, Chatti, and Cherusci. The fifth part are the Peucini and Bastarnae, bordering the aforementioned Dacians. Famous rivers flow into the Ocean: the Guttalus, the Vistillus or Vistula, the Elbe, the Weser, the Ems, the Rhine, and the Meuse. Inward, however, with a nobility second to none, the Hercynian range extends. original: Pliny, Natural History, book IV, chapter 14, pages 477, 478. In the Rhine itself, nearly one hundred miles in length, is the very noble island of the Batavians and Canninefates, and others of the Frisians, Chauci, Frisiavones, Sturii, and Marsacii, which are spread between the Helium and the Flevus. These are the names of the mouths into which the Rhine pours, spreading north into lakes and west into the river Meuse, keeping a modest channel for its own name in the middle mouth. original: book IV, chapter 15, pages 479, 480. Opposite this site lies the island of Britain, famous in Greek and our own monuments, situated between the north and the west. It faces Germany, Gaul, and Spain, the largest parts of Europe, at a great distance. Its name was Albion when all were called Britain. original: book IV, chapter 16, page 480. It appears that Mr. Pelloutier was mistaken in citing chapter 16 of Book VII. That chapter only speaks of the structure of the human body. The following books only mention those who invented things necessary for life and the different species of animals in each country. The texts reported above are the only ones that prove Pliny knew Germany. Twenty books of the German Wars, in which he collected all the wars we waged with them. original: Pliny the Younger, Letters, book III, epistle 5. a long enough stay there.

I can only regret here the loss we have suffered of several works where the Celts were discussed in a very extensive manner. Among this number are the History of Posidonius of Apamea (†) Posidonius says that he saw this in many places in Gaul. original: Strabo, book IV, page 198.. He had traveled in the Gauls; he was consequently in a position to give an exact description of them. The same must be said of the Treatise by Pytheas of Marseille which was titled

On the Circuit of the Earth original: "De Ambitu Terræ". This Geographer, (§) It is clear that the things Pytheas related about this and other places situated there are vain, from the places known to us about which he lied the most, as we have also shown above. Thus it is not obscure that he imagined more about distant places. original: Strabo, book IV, pages 201, 202. See also note (†) above, page xix. though much disparaged among the Ancients, nonetheless hit the mark in several places; at the very least, he must have known the Gauls, who were neighbors of his homeland.

We have also lost the works of Agrippa, who had made a description of Germany, cited by Pliny the Elder (†) Throughout this sea as far as the river Scheldt, Germanic tribes dwell. Their extent is reported with inexplicable measurement but excessive discord. The Greeks and some of our own have reported 25 thousand miles for the coast of Germany. Agrippa, with Raetia and Noricum, gives a length of 1,696 miles and a width of 148 miles. If conjecture is permitted, not much of the coast will be missing from the opinion of the Germanies and the length produced by Agrippa. original: Pliny, Natural History, book IV, chapter 13, page 477.; the twenty books of the German War (§) Gaius Pliny relates this to the writer of the Germanic wars. original: Tacitus, Annals, book I, chapter 69. See also note (f) above, page xxij., composed by the same Pliny; Book 104 of Livy, the first part of which contained a description of Germany, with the character of its inhabitants; the Roman History of Asinius Quadratus, according to the report (*) We believe Asinius Quadratus, an Italian man who wrote accurately of Germanic affairs. original: Agathias, book I, page 17. of Agathias, in which the affairs of Germany were described with much accuracy; and the History of the Goths by Ablavius, of which that of Jordanes is an abridgment. I will have occasion to indicate in this work several other authors of whom only fragments or extracts remain, which I have gathered with all the care of which I was capable.

Despite all the losses I have just mentioned, we still have enough records and resources to know the Celts, provided that one knows how to use them. It will be for the reader to judge if this work has been composed with that critical taste which has been carried so far in our century, and without which it is not possible to discern good authors or to discover the truth in the worst and most disparaged authors.

I hope that accuracy will be found in my remarks,