Plate 2: The Romans Taking Old Dutch Men as Hostages and Seducing Young Ones by Antonio Tempesta & Otto van Veen 1611

"At the orders of Vitellius a levy of the young Batavians was now being made. This burden, which is naturally grievous, was made the heavier by the greed and licence of those in charge of the levy: they hunted out the old and the weak that they might get a price for letting them off; again they dragged away the children to satisfy their lust, choosing the handsomest — and the Batavian children are generally tall beyond their years. These acts aroused resentment, and the leaders in the conspiracy, on which they were now determined, persuaded the people to refuse the levy."

-Tacitus, The Histories: Book 4, Chapter 14

Plate 2: The Romans Taking Old Dutch Men as Hostages and Seducing Young Ones by Antonio Tempesta & Otto van Veen 1611, from The War of the Romans Against the Batavians (Romanorvm et Batavorvm societas). 6 7/16 × 8 3/16 in. (16.4 × 20.8 cm). Current location: MET Museum. Antonio Tempesta in collaboration with Otto van Veen published in 1612 in Antwerp a series of thirty-six etchings on the Batavians and the Romans in a book entitled Batavorum cum Romanis bellum.

Back side.

Source:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/401391

https://www.catawiki.com/l/14458273-antonio-tempesta-1555-1630-war-of-the-romans-against-the-batavians-the-romans-taking-old-dutch-men-as-hostages-and-seducing-young-ones-first-state-etched-by-tempesta-himself-in-professional-matting-1611


Quote:

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Histories/4A*.html