the west, dwell the Galatians, and the Rhaetians to the north where the Rhine and the Danube have their sources hard by in the neighbouring country of the barbarians. And on the east, as I said, the Alps fortify the district where the usurper stationed his garrison. In this way, then, Italy is contained on all sides, partly by mountains that are very hard to cross, partly by a shallow sea into which countless streams empty and form a morass like the marshlands of Egypt. But the Emperor by his skill gained control of the whole of that boundary of the sea, and forced his way inland.) Καὶ ἵνα μὴ διατρίβειν δοκῶ αὖθίς τε ὑπὲρ τῶν δυσχωριῶν διαλεγόμενος, καὶ ὡς οὔτε στρατόπεδον ἦν οὐδὲ χάρακα πλησίον καταβαλέσθαι, οὔτε ἐπάγειν μηχανὰς καὶ ἑλεπόλεις, ἀνύδρου δεινῶς ὄντος καὶ οὐδὲ μικρὰς λιβάδας ἔχοντος [73] τοῦ πέριξ χωρίου, ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν εἶμι τὴν αἵρεσιν. καὶ εἰ βούλεσθε τὸ κεφάλαιον ἀθρόως ἑλεῖν τοῦ λόγου, ὑπομνήσθητε τῆς τοῦ Μακεδόνος ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἰνδοὺς πορείας, οἳ τὴν πέτραν ἐκείνην κατῴκουν, ἐφ᾽ ἣν οὐδὲ τῶν ὀρνίθων ἦν τοῖς κουφοτάτοις ἀναπτῆναι, ὅπως ἑάλω, καὶ οὐδὲν πλέον ἀκούειν ἐπιθυμήσετε· πλὴν τοσοῦτον μόνον, ὅτι Ἀλέξανδρος μὲν ἀπέβαλε πολλοὺς Μακεδόνας ἐξελὼν τὴν πέτραν, ὁ δὲ ἡμέτερος ἄρχων καὶ στρατηγὸς οὐδὲ χιλίαρχον ἀποβαλὼν ἢ λοχαγόν τινα, [B] ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ ὁπλίτην τῶν ἐκ καταλόγου, καθαρὰν καὶ ἄδακρυν περιεποιήσατο τὴν νίκην. Ἕκτωρ δὲ οἶμαι καὶ Σαρπηδὼν πολλοὺς ἐκ τοῦ τειχίσματος κατέβαλον,(334) ἐντυχόντες δὲ ἀριστεύοντι Πατρόκλῳ ὁ μὲν ἐπὶ τῶν νεῶν κτείνεται, ὁ δὲ ἔφευγεν αἰσχρῶς οὐδὲ ἀνελόμενος τὸ σῶμα τοῦ φίλου. οὕτως οὐδενὶ ξὺν νῷ, ῥώμῃ δὲ μᾶλλον σωμάτων θρασυνόμενοι τὴν ἐς τὸ τεῖχος πάροδον ἐτόλμων. βασιλεὺς δὲ οὗ μὲν ἀλκῆς ἔργον ἐστι καὶ θυμοῦ χρῆται τοῖς ὅπλοις καὶ κρατεῖ ξὺν εὐβουλίᾳ,(335) [C] οὗ δὲ μόνον ἐδέησε γνώμης, ταύτῃ κυβερνᾷ καὶ κατεργάζεται πράγματα τοσαῦτα, ὁπόσα οὐδ᾽ ἄν ὁ σίδηρος ἐξελεῖν ἰσχύσειεν.(336)