Rhenus, that celebrated river now called the Rhine, which, rising in the chain of the Rhaetian Alps (amidst the terrific |rocks| and glaciers of the Grisons), flows through the lake of Constance (Brigantinus Lacus) past Basilia or Basle; then taking its true direction to the northwest, divided ancient Germania from Gallia, and empties itself into the sea through the country of the Batavi, of which Lugdunum Batavorum, now Leyden, was the capitol.
The three Gallic provinces on the western bank of the Rhine contained several German nations, namely, the Vangiones, whose capitol was Borbetomagus, now Worms; northwest of which were Moguntiacum, now Mainz, and Confluentes, now Coblentz; the Nemetes, whose capitol was Noviomagus, now Spires; and the Triboci, whose chief town was Argentoratum, now Strasburg. Lower down, on the same bank of the river, were also the Ubii, whose capitol was Colonia Agrippina (now Cologne), so called after Agrippina Claudii; and the Eburones, whose country, afterwards occupied by the Tungri, had for its principal city Aduataca, now called Tongres.
On the eastern bank of the Rhenus were the Frisii, occupying the country which now forms |part| of Holland, Friesland, and Groningen. It was across this tract that Drusus, in his campaigns against the Germans, caused a canal or dyke to be dug, called Flevo Lacus, as a fortification against the incursions of the barbarians. On the same bank were the Chauci Minores and Majores, of the race of the Suevi, praised by Tacitus as the best of the German tribes. On the east bank also were the Catti, a great and powerful nation, whose capitol was Mattium, now Marburg; and to the south of them were the Mattiaci, occupying the present electorate of Hesse Darmstadt.