X.] HIS DESCRIPTIONS OF COUNTRIES. 211

springs except one turn brackish, 'doubtless from some subter-
ranean communication with the sea.'

Let us now examine the ways in which Polybius employs his
geographical knowledge for the elucidation of his

historical narrative. We have already seen that he tio
/- -r, i . . phytoHistory.
followed the example of Ephorus in setting apart a
distinct portion of his work — it was the thirty-fourth book of his
History — for the treatment of geography, and he has given us his
reasons for doing so. These were, first, that he desired to avoid
frequently interrupting his historical narrative by digressions on
the subject of geography j and secondly, that he wished by this
means to secure the thorough and systematic treatment of geogra-
phy itself1. This arrangement, however, does not prevent him
from describing the geography of separate countries
and the topography of places in the body of his
work, whenever it is convenient. The object which
he had in view in doing this, he tells us, was to place the scene
and the circumstances of a historical event clearly before the
minds of his readers, and thereby to render the event itself more
real to them, for "what men want to know is, not so much the
fact that a thing took place, as the way in which it happened" ;
and also to explain occurrences which would otherwise be per-
plexing, notably in the case of strategical operations, which are
constantly determined by the nature of the ground9. Hence, as
an introduction to the Gallic war of 225 B.C., Polybius gives us an
elaborate description of the shape, the boundaries,
and the products of Cisalpine Gaul, of its position
relatively to the rest of Italy, of the course of the
Padus which intersected it, and of the situation of the tribes by
whom it was inhabited8. Similarly, in connexion with the cam-
paign of Antiochus the Great against Molon, the
revolted satrap of Media, in 220 B.C., he furnishes
a singularly clear and intelligent account of that country in
respect of its central position in Asia, the elevation of its sur-
face^ the mountains that border or divide it, the passes which it
commands, and the relation which it bears to the surrounding
1 Polyb^ 3. 57. 4, 5. * Ibid^ 5-21. 4—7.
, 2. 14—17.
14—2