Infantes

 

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Gustav Vigeland

Sub Augusto dehinc Octaviano, Armenii cum Parthis commixti per Claudium Caesarem, nepotem Augusti, ocius superantur. Armenii siquidem utilius rati Romanorum amicitiis reconciliari et proprias sedes incolere, quam cum Parthis coniuncti et sedes perdere et Romanos infestos habere. sic quoque, dum in partibus orientalium Romanus laborat exercitus, occiduae plagae infestae sunt. Norici, in Alpibus Noricis habitantes, credebant quasi in rupes et nives bellum non posset ascendere: sed mox omnes illius cardinis populos—Breunos, Teutonios, Ucennos atque Vindelicos—per eundem Claudium Caesarem Romanus vicit exercitus. quae tamen fuerit Alpinarum gentium feritas, facile est vel per mulieres ostendere quae, deficientibus telis, infantes suos afflictos humi in ora militum adversa miserunt.
(Jordanes, Rom. 240-241)

Subsequently, under Augustus Octavian, the Armenians, mixed together with Parthians, were quickly vanquished through Claudius Cæsar, the grandson of Augustus. So the Armenians thought it more beneficial to become reconciled to the friendship of the Romans and to inhabit their own territory rather than, allied with the Parthians, both to lose their territory and have the Romans their enemies. While the Roman army was thus heavily engaged in eastern regions, the western areas were likewise under stress. The Noricans living in the Norican Alps believed as though war could not climb up to their rocks and snows; but soon the Roman army, through the same Claudius Cæsar, defeated all the tribes of that region: the Breuni, Teutoni, Ucenni and Vindelici. Still, it is easy to show what the level of animalism of the Alpine peoples was even by their women who, lacking weapons, smashed their own young children on the ground and flung them at the faces of the soldiers. (tr. Brian T. Regan)

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