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I thought this originated with the Romans because of the high frequency use of barbarians to refer to Germans to the north that couldn't be conquered and were o
by mrslave 5y ago
I thought this originated with the Romans because of the high frequency use of barbarians to refer to Germans to the north that couldn't be conquered and were often a thorn in the side of Rome. But this could be a borrowed word, and my perceived definition to describe the Germans is just the long-lasting influence of the Roman empire.
Did the Greeks use it frequently to describe any one people in particular?
- zvr 5y agoNo, it was used for everyone speaking a non-Greek language. In Homer there is no "barbarian"; only "barbar-speaking". But by the time of Aeschylus, it was a noun denoting people speaking non-Greek. There was also the corresponding verb that meant "speak a foreign language" but also "speak broken Greek / make lots of errors speaking (Greek)". In Roman times, "barbarian" meant anyone who was not Roman or Greek.