a people of Belgica, in the neighbourhood of the Allobroges and the Provincia Romana; famed for bravery and a turn for war. Called Civitas Helvetia, and divided into four pagi or cantons; situated to the south and west of the Rhine, by which they were divided from the Germans; and extending towards Gaul, from which they were separated by Mount Jura on the west, and by the Rhodanus and Lacus Lemannus on the south, and therefore called a Gallic nation (Tacitus, Caesar, Strabo, Ptolemy, Pliny). Formerly a part of Celtic Gaul, but by Augustus assigned to Belgica.