[5] After the Vocontii, are the Iconii, the Tricorii, and the Medulli; who inhabit the loftiest ridges of the mountains, for they say that some of them have an almost perpendicular ascent of 100 stadia, and a similar descent to the frontiers of Italy. In these high-lands there is a great lake; there are also two springs not far distant from each other; one of these gives rise to the Durance, which flows like a torrent into the Rhone, and to the Durias,1 which flows in an opposite direction; for it mingles with the Po after having pursued its course through the country of the Salassi2 into Cisalpine Keltica. From the other source, but much lower down, rises the Po itself, large and rapid, which as it advances becomes still vaster, and at the same time more gentle. As it reaches the plains it increases in breadth, being augmented by numerous [other rivers], and thus it becomes less impetuous in its course, and its current is weakened. Having become the largest river in Europe, with the exception of the Danube,3 it discharges itself into the Adriatic Sea. The Medulli are situated considerably above the confluence of the Isère and the Rhone.
1 There are two rivers of this name which descend from the Alps and discharge themselves into the Po. The Durias which rises near the Durance is the Durias minor of the ancients, and the Doria Riparia of the moderns; this river falls into the Po at Turin.
2 Gosselin observes:—The Salassi occupied the country about Aouste, or Aoste. The name of this city is a corruption of Augusta Prætoria Salassorum, which it received in the time of Augustus. The Durias which passes by Aouste is the Durias major, the modern Doria Baltea. Its sources are between the Great Saint Bernard and Mont Blanc.
3 The Ister of the classics.
The Geography of Strabo. Literally translated, with notes, in three volumes. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.