Europe, the two great rivers of the
Rhine and Danube; in Asia, the Euphrates and the Syrian deserts; in
Africa, the tracts of arid sand which fence the interior of that
continent. It thus contained those fertile and rich countries which
surround the Mediterranean sea, and constitute the fairest portion of
the earth.

2. Beginning at the west of Europe,[1] we find, first, Hispa'nia,
_Spain_. Its boundaries are, on the east, the chain of the Pyrenees;
on every other side, the sea. It was divided into three provinces: 1.
Lusita'nia, _Portugal_, bounded on the north by the Du'rius, _Douro_,
and on the south by the Anas; _Guadiana_: 2. Bo'etica, bounded on the
north and west by the A'nas, and on the east by the mountains of
Orospe'da, _Sierra Moreno_: 3. Tarracone'nsis, which includes the
remainder of the Spanish peninsula. 3. Spain was annexed to the Roman
empire after the conclusion of the second _Punic_ war; Lusitania,
after a desperate resistance, was added at a later period.

4. Transalpine Gaul was the name given to the entire country between
the Pyrenees and the Rhine; it consequently included France,
Switzerland, and Belgium.

5. Gaul was divided in four provinces: 1. Narbonen'sis or Bracca'ta,
bounded on the west by the Pyrenees; on the north by the Cevennian
mountains, and on the east by the Va'rus, _Var_: 2. Lugdunen'sis or
Cel'tica, bounded on the south and west by the Li'ger, _Loire_; on the
north by the Sequa'na, _Seine_, and on the east by the A'rar,
_Saone_: 3. Aquita'nica, bounded by the Pyrenees on the south,
and the Li'ger on the north and east: 4. Bel'gica, bounded on the
north and east by the Rhe'nus, _Rhine;_ on the west by the Arar, and
on the south by the Rhoda'nus, _Rhone_, as far as the city Lugdu'num,
_Lyons_. Helve'tia, the modern Switzerland, was included in Belgic
Gaul. This extensive country was not totally subdued before the time
of Julius Caesar.

6. Italy has been already mentioned in the first chapter; we shall
therefore pass it over and come to the islands in the Mediterranean.

Sici'lia or Trinac'ria, _Sicily_, was the first province that the
Romans gained beyond the confines of Italy. The cities on its coast
were founded by Phoenician and Grecian colonies, but the native
inhabitants retained possession of the interior; one tribe, named the
Sic'uli, are said to have migrated from Italy, and to have given their
name to the island. The Greeks and Carthaginians long contended for
supr