The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity

590 Pages·2006·7.54 MB·English

by  Benjamin Isaac

The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity

The Invention of Racism
in Classical Antiquity
• •
BENJAMIN ISAAC
P R I N C E T O N U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S
P R I N C E T O N A N D O X F O R D
Copyright (cid:2) 2004 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 3 Market Place, Woodstock,
Oxfordshire OX20 1SY
All Rights Reserved
Fourth printing, and first paperback printing, 2006
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-0-691-12598-5
Paperback ISBN-10: 0-691-12598-8
The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth edition of this book as follows
Isaac, Benjamin H.
The invention of racism in classical antiquity / Benjamin Isaac.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-691-11691-1 (alk. paper)
1. Racism—Greece—History—To 1500. 2. Racism—Rome. I. Title.
DF135.I82 2004
320.5(cid:3)6(cid:3)0938—dc21
2003048610
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Times Roman
Printed on acid-free paper. (cid:3)
pup.princeton.edu
Printed in the United States of America
5 7 9 10 8 6 4
• •
FOR IDA

• C O N T E N T S •
ILLUSTRATIONS ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xiii
INTRODUCTION 1
PART 1: STEREOTYPES AND PROTO-RACISM:
CRITERIA FOR DIFFERENTIATION 53
CHAPTER 1
Superior and Inferior Peoples 55
CHAPTER 2
Conquest and Imperialism 169
CHAPTER 3
Fears and Suppression 225
Conclusions to Part 1, Chapters 2 and 3 248
PART 2: GREEK AND ROMAN ATTITUDES TOWARDS
SPECIFIC GROUPS: GREEK AND ROMAN IMPERIALISM 253
INTRODUCTION TO PART 2 255
CHAPTER 4
Greeks and the East 257
CHAPTER 5
Roman Imperialism and the Conquest of the East 304
CHAPTER 6
Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Syrians 324
CHAPTER 7
Egyptians 352
CHAPTER 8
Parthia/Persia 371
CHAPTER 9
Roman Views of Greeks 381
CHAPTER 10
Mountaineers and Plainsmen 406
viii • C O N T E N T S •
CHAPTER 11
Gauls 411
CHAPTER 12
Germans 427
CHAPTER 13
Jews 440
Conclusions to Part 2 492
END CONCLUSIONS 501
Ethnic Prejudice, Proto-Racism, and Imperialism in Antiquity 503
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 517
INDEX OF SOURCES 541
GENERAL INDEX 553
• I L L U S T R A T I O N S •
(following page 251)
1. Heracles and Busiris. Caeretan black-figure hydria, Late Archaic Greek, c.
510 b.c. Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum, ANSA IV 3576. A. Furtwa¨ngler
und K. Reichhold, Griechische Vasenmalerei; Auswahl hervorragender
Vasenbilder (Mu¨nchen 1904), Pl. 51.
2a and 2b. Greek assaults Persian (Eurymedon). Attic red-figure oinochoe, un-
attributed, Early Classical Greek, c. 465 b.c. Inv. No. 1981.173. Hamburg,
Museum fu¨r Kunst und Gewerbe.
3. Persian Soldiers. Attic red-figure lekythos, c. 400 b.c., (cid:4)695. (cid:2) Copyright
The British Museum
4a and 4b. Oriental ruler, probably the King of Persia, riding a camel. Attic
red-figure oinochoe, towards the end of the first half of the fifth century.
British Museum, London, (cid:4)1912.7–9.1. (cid:2) Copyright The British Museum
5a and 5b. Athenian mistress and black slave girl in cemetery. Attic white-
ground lekythos, Bosanquet painter, 450–440 b.c., v.i. 3291. Antikensam-
mlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin–Preussischer Kulturbesitz-.
6. Nude black boy attending Athenian older man. Attic red-figure belly am-
phora. Chr. VIII 320 Ptr., c. 470 b.c. Department of Classical and Near East-
ern Antiquities, National Museum of Denmark.
7. Claudius and Britannia. From a series of Roman imperial reliefs found in the
Sebasteion at Aphrodisias by courtesy of the New York University Excava-
tions at Aphrodisias. Photo courtesy of the New York Excavations.
8a–b and 8c–d. Judaea Capta Coins. Silver denarii, Israel Museum Inv. No.
140 and No. 139. Collection Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Photo (cid:2) Israel
Museum
9. Mass execution of German prisoners. Column of Marcus Aurelius, Rome,
scene 61. Photo: Eugen Petersen, Die Marcus-Sa¨ule auf Piazza Colonna in
Rom, eds. Eugen Petersen, Alfred von Domaszewski, und Guglielmo Cal-
derini, Text (1 Band).–Tafeln (2 Port.), (Munich, 1896), Tafel 70.
10. Vanquished Germans surrender to the Emperor. Panel relief of Marcus Au-
relius, Roma, Musei Capitolini, Inv. 809/S, Archivio Fotografico dei Musei
Capitolini.