Allobroges

Thirty years later, the Edui, who inhabited the Nevernae in western Burgundy, made a treaty with Rome, whose support they desired against their rivals.

And soon afterwards, a crisis in Gallic politics gave the Romans an opening for attacking the Averni, who possess what is now Auvergne, and the Allobroges, whose territory was between the Lake of Geneva, the Rhone, and the Isere.

A victory at the confluence of these streams assured thenceforward the Roman command of the lower Rhone, and the province which was now formed was gradually extended along the Cevennes and the Tarn, till its northern frontier reached the center of the Pyrenees.

Italian brokers and moneylenders settled in the provincial towns, and even in independent Gaul.

There were only two routes by which it was possible for them to leave their country.

One, leading through the country of the Sequani and passing between the Jura and the Rhone, was so narrow and difficult that carts could barely pass along it one at a time, while a lofty mountain overhung it, so that a handful of men could easily stop them.

The other, leading through our province, is much easier and more convenient, for the Rhone, which flows between the country of the Helvetii and that of the Allobroges, who had recently been subdued, is at certain points fordable.

Geneva, the most remote town belonging to the Allobroges, is connected by a bridge with the country of the Helvetii, to which it is quite close.