Black people in ancient Roman history

Last updated
A young toga-clad man of letters holding a scroll. Roman fresco fragment.jpg
A young toga-clad man of letters holding a scroll.

In classical antiquity, Greek and Roman writers were acquainted with people of every skin tone from very pale (associated with populations from Scythia) to very dark (associated with populations from sub-Saharan Africa (Aethiopia). People described with words meaning "black", or as Aethiopes, are occasionally mentioned throughout the Empire in surviving writings, and people with very dark skin tones and tightly-curled hair are depicted in various artistic modes. Other words for people with other skin tones were also used.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Skin tones did not carry any social implications, and no social identity, either imposed or assumed, was associated with skin color. Although the color black was associated with ill-omens in the ancient Roman religion, racism as understood today developed only after the classical period:

"The ancients did not fall into the error of biological racism; black skin color was not a sign of inferiority. Greeks and Romans did not establish color as an obstacle to integration in society. An ancient society was one that for all its faults and failures never made color the basis for judging a man."

— Frank Snowden, Jr. [1] [2]

"Aethiopes"

World according to Pomponius Mela, a Roman geographer. Pomponius Mela's Map of the World.png
World according to Pomponius Mela, a Roman geographer.

In classical antiquity, terms such as afer, maurus, niger, ater, fuscus, perustus, or melas were commonly used in reference to darker-toned physical characteristics encountered in daily life around the Mediterranean. The term Aethiopes (sg. Aethiops ) referred to particularly dark-skinned peoples, first recorded as early as Homer, who presented them as remote, almost legendary figures that inhabited the far reaches of the known world. [3] [4] No ancient writer attempted the detailed human classifications of pseudoscientific racism, and no exact definition of the term Aethiops is recorded. [5] [6] [7] [8] Early contacts with such populations were along the Nile and with the civilization of the kingdoms of Nubia; the mythological stereotype of Aethiopia described its inhabitants as particularly moral. [5] [6]

Aethiopia

The inhabited world according to Herodotus: Libya (Africa) is imagined as extending no further south than the Horn of Africa, terminating in the uninhabitable desert. All peoples inhabiting the southernmost fringes of the inhabitable world are known as Aethiopians (after their dark skin). At the extreme south-east of the continent are the Macrobians, so-called for their longevity. Herodotus world map-en.svg
The inhabited world according to Herodotus: Libya (Africa) is imagined as extending no further south than the Horn of Africa, terminating in the uninhabitable desert. All peoples inhabiting the southernmost fringes of the inhabitable world are known as Aethiopians (after their dark skin). At the extreme south-east of the continent are the Macrobians, so-called for their longevity.

The earliest surviving mention is in the Odyssey:

"But Poseidon was visiting the Ethiopians (Αἰθίοπας), who live far away. Indeed, the Ethiopians, who are the most far-off of men, are divided in two. Some live where the sun sets, and some dwell where it rises. Poseidon went to accept a hecatomb of bulls and sheep. And while there he enjoys the feast."

— Homer [9]

Extant geographical sources place Aethiopia somewhere within the upper part of the torrid zone in Sahara desert, imagined as engulfed by the Red Sea, and at the end of the world as known to classical antiquity. This territory merges into areas unknown to classical civilization at its edges, and Aethiopiae are at times described as antichthones, semi-mythic figures who lived beyond the edge of the known world. [10] [11] [12]

Identifiable people

Aethiopiae were rare in the capital under Nero; it was evidence of a brilliant and costly affair when the gladiators for a whole day's show consisted only of Aethiopes. [13]

One "Aethiop" soldier is reported (by an unreliable source) in Britannia in about 210 CE, his black skin being considered a bad omen [14] for North African Emperor Septimius Severus who was born in Leptis Magna. [15]

Depictions of skin tone

A strong distinction in skin color is frequently seen in the portrayal of men and women in Ancient Rome. Since women in Ancient Rome were traditionally expected to stay inside and out of the sun, they were usually quite pale; whereas men were expected to go outside and work in the sun, so they were usually deeply tanned. [16] Separately, people with very dark skin and tightly-curled hair were often depicted in art. [5] Classical pedagogy, intermingled with the fraught legacy of racism, has incorrectly imputed racism to ancient depictions of people with the physical characteristics of sub-Saharan Africans. [5] [17]

Attitudes towards physical differences between populations

Romans and Greeks were generally ethnocentric, priding themselves on their autochthony and viewing themselves as somewhat privileged inhabitants of the optimal environment for human prosperity and advancement. [18] Environmental determinism was the primary lens through which classical elites understood their perceived advantages vis-à-vis the "other", and ubiquitous themes of eastern effeminacy as compared to northern hardiness were ascribed to the consequences of different climatic conditions.[ citation needed ]

Classical authors have left no record of any social implications of dark or black skin color, but multiple sources of group identity are recorded. [19] Romans clearly perceived physical differences between individuals and populations across time and space, as evidenced by the frequent representation of diverse types in classical iconography. [20] But they never defined these differences in a comprehensive manner, employing a range of terms to describe human social and physical characteristics. For example, terms such as genos, ethnos, ethnê, and phulê can be approximately mapped onto 21st-century notions of race, ethnic grouping, political units, or other sociocultural concepts. A "Roman" identity did not suggest a given skin tone, rather it referred to an ever-shifting set of cultural traditions, growing more eclectic in later Roman history, to which inherited physical characteristics were of no relevance. [21] [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andromeda (mythology)</span> Aethiopian princess in Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, Andromeda is the daughter of Cepheus, the king of Aethiopia, and his wife, Cassiopeia. When Cassiopeia boasts that she is more beautiful than the Nereids, Poseidon sends the sea monster Cetus to ravage the coast of Aethiopia as divine punishment. Queen Cassiopeia understands that chaining Andromeda to a rock as a human sacrifice is what will appease Poseidon. Perseus finds her as he is coming back from his quest to decapitate Medusa, and brings her back to Greece to marry her and let her reign as his queen. With the head of Medusa, Perseus petrifies Cetus to stop it from terrorizing the coast any longer.

Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in socially based systems of racial classification in the Western world, the term "black" is used to describe persons who are perceived as dark-skinned compared to other populations. It is most commonly used for people of sub-Saharan African ancestry, Indigenous Australians and Melanesians, though it has been applied in many contexts to other groups, and is no indicator of any close ancestral relationship whatsoever. Indigenous African societies do not use the term black as a racial identity outside of influences brought by Western cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Septimius Severus</span> Roman emperor from 193 to 211

Lucius Septimius Severus was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus was the final contender to seize power after the death of the emperor Pertinax in 193 during the Year of the Five Emperors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garamantes</span> Ancient North African population

The Garamantes were ancient peoples, who may have descended from Berber tribes, Toubou tribes, and Saharan pastoralists that settled in the Fezzan region by at least 1000 BC and established a civilization that flourished until its end in the late 7th century AD. The Garamantes first emerged as a major regional power in the mid-2nd century AD and established a kingdom that spanned roughly 180,000 km2 (70,000 sq mi) in the Fezzan region of southern Libya. Their growth and expansion was based on a complex and extensive qanat irrigation system, which supported a strong agricultural economy and a large population. They subsequently developed the first urban society in a major desert that was not centered on a river system; their largest town, Garama, had a population of around four thousand, with an additional six thousand living in surrounding suburban areas. At its pinnacle, the Garamantian kingdom established and maintained a "standard of living far superior to that of any other ancient Saharan society" and was composed of "brilliant farmers, resourceful engineers, and enterprising merchants who produced a remarkable civilization."

The Mediterranean race is an obsolete racial classification of humans based on the now-disproven theory of biological race. According to writers of the late 19th to mid-20th centuries it was a sub-race of the Caucasian race. According to various definitions, it was said to be prevalent in the Mediterranean Basin and areas near the Mediterranean and Black Sea, especially in Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, North Africa, most of West Asia, the Middle East or Near East; western Central Asia, parts of South Asia, and parts of the Horn of Africa. To a lesser extent, certain populations of people in Ireland, western parts of Great Britain, and Southern Germany, despite living far from the Mediterranean, were thought to have some minority Mediterranean elements in their population, such as Bavaria, Wales, and Cornwall.

Identifying human races in terms of skin colour, at least as one among several physiological characteristics, has been common since antiquity. Such divisions appeared in early modern scholarship, usually dividing humankind into four or five categories, with colour-based labels: red, yellow, black, white, and sometimes brown. It was long recognized that the number of categories is arbitrary and subjective, and different ethnic groups were placed in different categories at different points in time. François Bernier (1684) doubted the validity of using skin color as a racial characteristic, and Charles Darwin (1871) emphasized the gradual differences between categories. Today there is broad agreement among scientists that typological conceptions of race have no scientific basis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memnon</span> Ethiopian king in Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, Memnon was a king of Aethiopia and son of Tithonus and Eos. During the Trojan War, he brought an army to Troy's defense and killed Antilochus, Nestor's son, during a fierce battle. Nestor challenged Memnon to a fight, but Memnon refused, being there was little honor in killing the aged man. Nestor then pleaded with Achilles to avenge his son's death. Despite warnings that soon after Memnon fell so too would Achilles, the two men fought. Memnon drew blood from Achilles, but Achilles drove his spear through Memnon's chest, sending the Aethiopian army running. The death of Memnon echoes that of Hector, another defender of Troy whom Achilles also killed out of revenge for a fallen comrade, Patroclus.

The terms Aethiops, Ethiop, or Ethiope are archaic words for "burnt face." It may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borders of the Roman Empire</span> Political boundaries between the Roman Empire and neighboring territories

The borders of the Roman Empire, which fluctuated throughout the empire's history, were realised as a combination of military roads and linked forts, natural frontiers and man-made fortifications which separated the lands of the empire from the countries beyond.

<i>Severan Tondo</i> Roman panel painting

The Severan Tondo or Berlin Tondo from c. 200 AD is one of the few preserved examples of panel painting from classical antiquity, depicting the first two generations of the imperial Severan dynasty, whose members ruled the Roman Empire in the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries. It depicts the Roman emperor Septimius Severus with his wife, the augusta Julia Domna, and their two sons and co-augusti Caracalla and Geta. The face of one of the two brothers has been deliberately erased, very likely as part of damnatio memoriae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank M. Snowden Jr.</span> American classicist and diplomat (1911–2007)

Frank M. Snowden Jr., was an American historian and classicist, best known for his study of black people in classical antiquity. He was a Distinguished Professor emeritus of classics at Howard University. He also served as a delegate to UNESCO and as a cultural attaché to the United States embassy in Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aethiopia</span> Ancient Greek term for parts of Africa

Ancient Aethiopia, first appears as a geographical term in classical documents in reference to skin color of inhabitants in upper Nile of northern Sudan, areas south of the Sahara, and certain areas in Asia. Its earliest mention is in the works of Homer: twice in the Iliad, and three times in the Odyssey. The Greek historian Herodotus uses the appellation to refer to regions south of Egypt when describing "Aethiopians," indicating Nubia, not the modern nation of Ethiopia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ancient Egyptian race controversy</span> Question of the race of ancient Egyptians

The question of the race of the ancient Egyptians was raised historically as a product of the early racial concepts of the 18th and 19th centuries, and was linked to models of racial hierarchy primarily based on craniometry and anthropometry. A variety of views circulated about the racial identity of the Egyptians and the source of their culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aesop</span> Ancient Greek storyteller

Aesop was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as Aesop's Fables. Although his existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a storytelling tradition that continues to this day. Many of the tales associated with him are characterized by anthropomorphic animal characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethiopian eunuch</span> Figure in the New Testaments Acts chapter 8

The Ethiopian eunuch is a figure in the New Testament of the Bible. The story of his conversion to Christianity at the preaching of Philip the Evangelist is recounted in Acts 8.

Negroid is an obsolete racial grouping of various people indigenous to Africa south of the area which stretched from the southern Sahara desert in the west to the African Great Lakes in the southeast, but also to isolated parts of South and Southeast Asia (Negritos). The term is derived from now-disproven conceptions of race as a biological category.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Aethiopians</span> Roman exonym

White Aethiopians is a term found in ancient Greco-Roman literature, which may have referred to various light-complexioned populations inhabiting the Aethiopia region of antiquity. The exonym is used by Pliny the Elder, and is also mentioned by Pomponius Mela, Ptolemy and Orosius. These authorities do not, however, agree on the geographical location of the White Aethiopians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romans in sub-Saharan Africa</span> Ancient Roman expeditions into Africa

Between the first century BC and the fourth century AD, several expeditions and explorations to Lake Chad and western Africa were conducted by groups of military and commercial units of Romans who moved across the Sahara and into the interior of Africa and its coast. However, there was a more significant Roman and Greek presence in modern-day Eritrea and Ethiopia. The primary motivation for the expeditions was to secure sources of gold and spices from Axumite piracies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pre-modern conceptions of whiteness</span>

The description of populations as white in reference to their skin colour predates and is distinct from the race categories constructed from the 17th century onward. Coloured terminology is occasionally found in Graeco-Roman ethnography and other ancient and medieval sources, but these societies did not have any notion of a white or pan-European race. In Graeco-Roman society whiteness was a somatic norm, although this norm could be rejected and it did not coincide with any system of discrimination or colour prejudice. Historically, before the late modern period, cultures outside of Europe and North America, such as those in the Middle East and China, employed concepts of whiteness. Eventually these were progressively marginalised and replaced by the European form of racialised whiteness. Whiteness has no enduring "true essence", but instead is a social construct that is dependent on differing societal, geographic, and historical meanings. Scholarship on race distinguishes the modern concept from pre-modern descriptions, which focused on skin colour, complexion and other physical traits.

Ethiopis or Itiyopp'is is the name of a legendary king from Ethiopian tradition who was the inspiration behind the name of the country, Ethiopia.

According to an Ethiopian tradition, the term Ethiopia is derived from the word Ethiopis, a name of the Ethiopian king, the seventh in the ancestral lines. Metshafe Aksum or the Ethiopian Book of Aksum identifies Itiopis as the twelfth king of Ethiopia and the father of Aksumawi. The Ethiopians pronounce Ethiopia እትዮጵያ with a Sades or the sixth sound እ as in incorporate and the graph ጰ has no equivalent in English or Latin graphs. Ethiopis is believed to be the twelfth direct descendant of Adam. His father is identified as Kush, while his grandfather is known as Kam.

References

  1. ↑ Snowden, Jr., Frank M. (1970). Blacks in Antiquity: Ethiopians in the Greco-Roman Experience . Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  2. ↑ Art and the somatic norm image, Frank Snowden. pp 79-82 in Before Color Prejudice, Harvard University Press 1983
  3. ↑ van Wyk Smith, Malvern (2009). The First Ethiopians: The image of Africa and Africans in the early Mediterranean World. Wits University Press. pp. 344–5.
  4. ↑ Mauny, R.; Snowden, Frank M. (1971). "Africans in Antiquity". The Journal of African History. 12 (1): 157–159. ISSN   0021-8537.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Snowden, Jr., Frank M. (1970). Blacks in Antiquity. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  6. 1 2 Snowden, Jr., Frank M. (1983). Before Color Prejudice. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  7. ↑ Thompson, Lloyd (1989). Romans and Blacks. London: Routledge.
  8. ↑ Isaac, Benjamin (2004). The Invention of Racism in Antiquity. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  9. ↑ Homer, Odyssey. 1.22-26. (Lattimore 1975)
  10. ↑ Strabo. The Geography of Strabo. London: New York: W. Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons.
  11. ↑ Romer, F.E. (1998). Pomponius Mela's Description of the World. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
  12. ↑ Herodotus (1996). Herodotus : the Histories. London: Penguin Books.
  13. ↑ Cassius Dio. Roman History LXII 3: "Nero admired him for this action and entertained him in many ways, especially by giving a gladiatorial exhibition at Puteoli. It was under the direction of Patrobius, one of his freedmen, who managed to make it a most brilliant and costly affair, as may be seen from the fact that on one of the days not a person but Ethiopians — men, women, and children — appeared in the theatre." https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/62*.html#29
  14. ↑ Historia Augusta, Septimius Severus, chapter 22. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Septimius_Severus*.html#22
  15. ↑ Birley, Anthony R (2002). Septimius Severus: The African Emperor. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   978-113-470-745-4.
  16. ↑ McDaniel, Spencer (September 30, 2020). "Were the Ancient Greeks and Romans White?".
  17. ↑ Goff, Barbara (2005). Colonialism in Classics. Reading: Bloomsbury Publishing.
  18. ↑ Isaac, Benjamin (2004). The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 503.
  19. ↑ Kennedy, RF; Roy, CS; Goldman, ML (2013). Race and Ethnicity in the Classical World: An Anthology of Primary Sources. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company. pp. 3–10.
  20. ↑ Gates, Jr., Henry Louis; Bindman, David; Dalton, Karen C. C. (2010). The Image of the Black in Western Art, Volume I: From the Pharaohs to the Fall of the Roman Empire. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN   9780674052710.
  21. ↑ LOMAS, KATHRYN; GARDNER, ANDREW; HERRING, EDWARD (2013). "CREATING ETHNICITIES AND IDENTITIES IN THE ROMAN WORLD". Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. Supplement (120): 1–10. ISSN   2398-3264.
  22. ↑ de Souza Briggs, Xavier (4 December 2004). "Civilization in Color: The Multicultural City in Three Millennia" (PDF). City & Community – via dusp.mit.edu.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.