When Virgil's Aeneas is shipwrecked in a country that he fears is inhabited by barbarians, he looks around and sees some figures carved in relief and sighs, "These men know the paths of life, and mortal things touch their hearts."
維吉爾史詩中的英雄阿尼亞士，在船難後唯恐自己落入蠻荒國度，他四處環顧，看到浮雕人像，於是嘆道：「這裡的人懂得人世滄桑；生命的倏忽寂滅，觸動了他們的心靈。」這就是野蠻人與文明人的分野了。