Helvetii

Helvetii, a Keltic people whose territory consisting of four "pagi" or cantons - was almost identical with the modern Switzerland, being bounded by the Jura on the west, the Rhine on the north and east, and the Rhone and the Lake of Geneva on the south. Their attempt to subdue Southern Gaul is narrated by CAesar in his Gallic War (bk. i. chaps. 1-29). After burning their towns and villages and collecting supplies sufficient for three months, they assembled at the Lake of Geneva, but Caesar blocked their way by building a wall along the Rhine, and afterwards defeated them in a great battle at Bibracte, the chief town of the AEdui (58 B.C.). The survivors were sent back to their own country, and became subject to the Romans. In the 1st century A.D. they were almost exterminated by one of Vitellius' generals in consequence of their adhesion to Galba.