Book 15
10.2
Now on the southern side it is washed by the Tuscan and the Gallic Sea; where it looks up to the heavenly Wain,The septentriones, the constellation of ursa major, representing the north. it is separated from the wild nations by the channelsAs it enters the sea, the Rhine divides into several branches. of the Rhine. Where it lies under the west-sloping sunAs there is no specific western constellation, sidus seems to mean sun; cf. Pliny, N.H. ii. 12; etc., and solis ortus, below, of the east. it is bounded by the Ocean and the Pyrenaean heights; and where it rises towards the East it gives place to the bulk of the Cottian Alps. There King Cottius, after the subjugation of Gaul, lay hidden alone in their defiles, trusting to the pathless ruggedness of the region; finally, when his disaffection was allayed, and he was admitted to the emperor Octavian’s friendship, in lieu of a remarkable gift he built with great labour short cuts convenient to travellers, since they were midway between other ancient Alpine passes, about which I shall later tell what I have learned.
10.3
In these Cottian Alps, which begin at the town of Susa, there rises a lofty ridge, which scarcely anyone can cross without danger.
