Ammianus Marcellinus

Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Roman historian noted by later scholars for the truthfulness and accuracy of his work. He wrote during that period in Roman history when the barbarians began making successful inroads into the Roman Empire. The following is Ammianus's description of the Huns, a nomadic tribe from north-central Asia. A fierce and warlike people, the Huns were among the most feared and vicious of the barbarian invaders who contributed to the ultimate collapse of Rome.

The people called Huns . . . live beyond the Sea of Azov [north of the Crimea in Russia], on the border of the Frozen Ocean [Maeotic Sea], and are a race savage beyond all parallel. At the very moment of their birth the cheeks of their infant children are deeply marked by an iron, in order that the usual vigour of their hair, instead of growing at the...