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previous: previous chapter This webpage reproduces a section of The Geography of Claudius Ptolemy published in English translation by Dover Publications, 1991 The text is in the public domain. This text has been carefully proofread and I believe it to be free of errors. If you find a mistake though, please let me know! next: next Chapter

Book II, Chapter 8

Location of Belgica Gallia
(from the Third Map of Europe)

My notes on the Map: No information has been added to Ptolemy's text as I have it. Thus, the coastline is approximate, drawn from the 8 points given there. There is almost no topographic information, and the courses of the rivers also remain unmapped, although the defensive line of the Roman limes makes the trace of the Rhine rather clear. Notice that the coastal point labelled Itium pr. looks like an inlet rather than a promontory. Ptolemy is almost certainly right, however: this appears to be the cape now called the Pointe du Hourdel, forming the western side of the mouth of the Somme.

The western border of Belgica Gallia, which is near Lugdunensis, we have described; the north which is on the Britannic ocean is thus described: after the mouth of the Sequana river

The border which looks toward the east along Germania Magna, is terminated by the Rhine river,

The south side connects with a part Gallia Narbonensis, and extends from the common boundary of Lugdunensis and Narbonensis as far as

The Atribati inhabit the seacoast, near the Sequana river, whose town is

Next toward the east are the Bellovici, whose town is

Next to these in that region are the Ambiani, and their town is

Next to these are the Morini, whose interior town is

Next beyond the Tabula river are the Tungri and the town

Next to the Mosa river are the Menapi, and their town

Below these are the Nervi, a race to which we have referred, extending northward, whose town is

Below these are the Subanecti, whose town is located on the eastern bank of the Sequana river:

Next to these are the Viromandues and the town

Below these are the Vessones, whose town, located toward the east of the Sequana, is

Next to these near the river are the Remi, and their town

Toward the east from the Remi, and extending northward, are the Treveri whose town is

Toward the south of these are the Mediomatrices, whose town is

And below these and the Remi are the Leuci, and their towns

The other part of the region near the Rhine from the sea to the Obruncus river is called Lower Germania, in which and the west of the Rhine river is the town in the interior of Batavia

Below which are

Another part toward the south from the Obrincas river is called Upper Germania, in which are the towns

of the Nemetes

of the Vangiones

of the Tribocci

of the Raurici

Extending below these and the Leuci dwell the Longones whose town is

And after the mountains which are below these, and which are called the Jurassus, are the Helveti near the Rhine river, whose towns are

The Sequani are below these and the towns

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Thayer's Notes:

a There is obviously an error here: this place and the next cannot both be at the same coördinates. As elsewhere in this edition, I have a feeling the error lies with the modern editor.

❦

b The edition has 38°45 — which can only be an error: whether 3 for 4, either in the 20c or in the 16c, or the less likely xxx for xxxx or xl in a Latin translation, or finally λ for μ hardly matters.

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