ilized, as ancient history proves, sacrificing their prisoners to
Bellona and Mars, and drinking with eagerness human blood out of skulls.
Their ferocity engaged the Roman republic in many wars; and on one
occasion led to the destruction of an entire army with its general.[164]

5. But we see that the country now, the district being in the form of a
crescent, resembles a splendid theatre; it is bounded on the west by
mountains, on the abrupt summit of which are the thickly wooded passes
of the Succi, which separate Thrace from Dacia.

6. On the left, or northern side, the heights of the Balkan form the
boundary, as in one part does the Danube also, where it touches the
Roman territory: a river with many cities, fortresses, and castles on
its banks.

7. On the right, or southern side, lies Mount Rhodope; on the east, the
country is bounded by a strait, which becomes more rapid from being
swollen by the waters of the Euxine sea, and proceeds onwards with its
tides towards the AEgean, separating the continents of Europe and Asia by
a narrow space.

8. At a confined corner on the eastward it joins the frontier of
Macedonia by a strait and precipitous defile named Acontisma; near to
which are the valley and station of Arethusa, where one may see the tomb
of Euripides, illustrious for his sublime tragedies; and Stagira, where
we are told that Aristotle, who as Cicero says pours from his mouth a
golden stream, was born.

9. In ancient times, tribes of barbarians occupied these countries,
differing from each other in customs and language. The most formidable
of which, from their exceeding ferocity, were the Odrysaeans, men so
accustomed to shed human blood, that when they could not find enemies
enough, they would, at their feasts, when they had eaten and drunk to
satiety, stab their own bodies as if they belonged to others.

10. But as the republic grew in strength while the authority of the
consular form of government prevailed, Marcus Didius, with great
perseverance, attacked these tribes which had previously been deemed
invincible, and had roved about without any regard either to divine or
human laws. Drusus compelled them to confine themselves to their own
territories; Minucius defeated them in a great battle on the river
Maritza, which flows down from the lofty mountains of the Odrysaeans; and
after those exploits, the rest of the tribes were almost destroyed in a
terrible battle by Appius Claudius the proconsul. And