Res Gestae

The part of this pass, which faces Illy- ricum, since it rises more gently, is sometimes easily surmounted, as though it kept no guard. But the

opposite side, over against Thrace, precipitous and falling sheer downward, is made difficult on both sides by rough paths, and is hard to get over even when there is no opposition. At the foot of these heights on both sides lie spacious plains, the upper one extending as far as the Julian Alps,[*](Formerly called Venetic, xxi. 16, 7.) the other so flat and open that there is no hindrance to its habitation as far as the strait[*](The Hellespont.) and the Propontis.