3 ms·

Would be interested in some sources for this. My understanding is that anything non-Roman was barbarian by definition.

• arrosenberg 5y ago
  I'm not an expert, but I don't think that's completely true. The Romans conquered Greece and then Greek culture conquered Rome. I'm not aware that they viewed the Persians, Egyptians or Carthaginians as barbarian either. Unless barbarian strictly means foreign, rather than uncivilized. I wasn't able to find a super authoritative source, but here's a PBS [1] article that lays out the basics - the Romans allowed the Jews to worship their own deity and follow their own practices, and Pompey, Caesar and Augustus all maintained that protection into the early imperial era. They were treated like clients, rather than being subjugated, until the rebellions. [1] https://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/jews.html https://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/jews.html