How do we approach/study new cultures?: The Nacerima
As you study Latin, you are going to be exploring a culture that flourished thousands of years ago. While so much material, linguistic, and written culture still remains in our world today, much of Roman culture has vanished over the course of time. How should we approach a culture that is so far removed from our own? To help you open your mind to learning about a new culture, let's start with a really basic reading on the Nacerima culture. This will help you get a better sense of just how we should approach our understanding of the Ancient Romans with an open mind! Click here for the 1956 article "Body Ritual Among the Nacerima" by Horace Miner.
Geography of Italy
Take a look at the map to the right of Italy and the Mediterranean Sea. What do you notice about Italy? Is there anything special about this land? Did the location of Italy help the Romans become the great power and empire they were?
The answer is YES! Look at the north of Italy -- do you notice the giant mountain range? Those are the Alps. They create a natural barrier that separates Italy from the rest of Europe. The Alps were a natural wall that also protected the people living in Italy from attacks. Take a look at the images below to get a sense of the scale of the Alps. The "Mont Blanc Massif" range of the Alps, courtesy of Wikipedia
An overhead view of the Alps, courtesy of Mr. C
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A topographical map of Italy, courtesy of Wikipedia
An overhead view of the Alps, courtesy of Mr. C
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Now lets go back to the map of Italy. Notice how it is a peninsula, bordered on the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea and on the east by the Adriatic Sea. These also help isolate and protect the people of Italy. Now look south -- Italy juts over 750 miles into the Mediterranean Sea! The island of Sicily is only separated by the narrow Straits of Messina. Continuing further south, Sicily is only separated from North Africa by 90 miles. All of this puts Italy and Sicily right in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea and its rich sea trading lanes. Even before the Romans rose to power, their country was in an ideal strategic and economic position to dominate the Mediterranean. It's no wonder the Romans did exactly that!
Who Influenced the Romans?
We know that the Romans would eventually rise up to conquer Italy, but who else was living there? It's a good (and important question). In short, there is archaeological evidence that people have been living in Italy since 70,000 BCE! Let's jump to a more recent date, though. Who was living in Italy around the time Rome was founded in 753 BCE? Not everyone there was "Roman" -- in fact, Italy had a tremendous amount of ethnic diversity at the time: Ligurians, Celts, Veneti, Etruscans, Latins, Oscans, Samnites, and even Greeks were all part of the fabric of Italian culture. Let's look at a few of these groups who have connections to the Romans.
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The Etruscans
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The Phoenicians
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The Greeks
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Etruscan Civilization
The Romans weren't the first or the only inhabitants of the Italian Peninsula. Before they were a world power, the Romans were just another small tribe scattered throughout Italy.
The first group of people to be discovered by the more developed civilizations of the East were a group known as the "Etruscans." The Etruscans lived in the area north of Rome. Their influence on the region is still preserved today, as it is known as "Tuscany." |
Ancient History Encyclopedia ArticleClick the screenshot above to open an Ancient History Encyclopedia article on Etruscan Civilization.
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Kings and Generals Video: Etruscans
Etruscan Art
One of the most lasting legacies of the Etruscan people is all the artwork they left behind, especially their master metalwork. Take a look at the photos below for some examples of Etruscan art. These images come from the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. To see more, click the screenshot to the right and check out the collection for yourself!
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An Example of Etruscan Metalworking Skill
This Etruscan brooch was made of silver and gold, showing just how skilled these people were at working with metals. This piece is currently in the Getty Museum. To read more, click here
Etruscan Art: Ancient History Encylopedia Article
Phoenician Civilization
The name "Phoenician" comes from the Ancient Greek "Phoinikes," whom Romans called the "Poeni." They were a group of sea-faring traders who established a capital city of Tyre on the coast of modern-day Syria. This group of people appear in the Bible as the "Canaanites" as well. Their ports were extremely prosperous and linked the regions of Greece, Egypt, Crete, modern-day Turkey, North African and Mesopotamia through trade. One of their great contributions to our modern world is their simplification of hieroglyphics (writing involving pictures and symbols) and cuneiform (writing involving wedge-shaped symbols) into an alphabet based on 22 consonants. In fact, the first two signs "aleph" (alpha in Ancient Greek) and "bayt" (beta in Ancient Greek) give us the word "alphabet." The Ancient Greek language would be based on this Phoenician alphabet and in turn it would be adopted into Latin. So, the Phoenicians played a huge role in the languages of Western Europe (including English)!
Phoenician ships traveled all across the Mediterranean, bringing trade goods and sharing cultural ideas. One of the major goods of Tyre was a purple dye secreted by the shellfish known as "murex." This dye was very rare and very expensive and was so sought after that it became a symbol of royalty and wealth in the ancient world. This tradition continued throughout history, explaining why purple has always been associated with royalty.
The Phoenicians set up colonies all across the Mediterranean to expand their trade empire. One of the most important was the city of Carthage in North Africa. This city would later become it's own independent empire and the great enemy of Ancient Rome. The series of wars fought between Rome and Carthage were known as the "Punic Wars" (from the Latin term for the Phonecians, "Poeni"). More importantly for the Romans, though, the Phoenicians established a colony on the island of Pithecusae off the western coast of Italy in the Bay of Naples. From here, Phoenician culture directly came into contact with the Etruscans and later the Romans. These Phoenician outposts established trade in Italy and opened it up to the rest of the Mediterranean world. They helped stimulate the Italian economy and helped establish urban centers along the coast. The Phoenicians impact on the Romans can't be overlooked! |
A map from Ancient History Encycolpedia showing Tyre (on the far right) and the various Phoenician trade routes in the Mediterranean
Continue Learning!
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The Greeks in Southern Italy
No discussion on the Romans would be complete without addressing the major impact of Greek civilization and culture on their Roman counterparts. Beginning in the 8th century BCE, Greek city-states started sending colonies to southern Italy and Sicily. This was done for economic gain through trade and to help with the shortage of farmable land in the hills of Greece. The Greeks established so many cities in this region that the area of southern Italy and Sicily became known as "Magna Graecia" (Greater Greece). Some of the cities established by Greek colonists are still famous today: Naples ("Neapolis" or "new city" in Greek), Cumae, Tarentum, and Syracuse.
Through contact with Magna Graecia, the Romans were introduced to Greek culture and it infiltrated almost all aspects of their society. |
The Greek language, alphabet, art, architecture, literature, government, philosophy and mythology (along with numerous other examples) all become interwoven into Roman culture. By the 3rd century BCE, the Romans had conquered the Italian peninsula and ended the independence of these Greek cities. There can be no doubt, however, of the major impact that these Greeks in southern Italy had on the Romans!
Continue Learning!
To read more about the Greek colonization of Southern Italy and Sicily, click here to open an Ancient History Encyclopedia article on the topic. Or, check out the documentary below!
Roman Faces: What did the Romans Look Like?
Close your eyes and imagine what an Ancient Roman looks like... What skin color do they have? eye color? hair color? What do you see? Did you maybe see something like the images below?
Most of the Roman/Greek statues that we have left from antiquity were made of beautiful marble, which had a tremendous impact on future sculptors in the Renaissance and beyond!
This statue, known as the "Apollo Belvedere" was rediscovered in the Renaissance and was held to be the ideal of aesthetic beauty/perfection of the male form. To this day, it stands in the Vatican Palace. Next to it, we have the Venus de Milo, which was considered the ideal female form.
This statue, known as the "Apollo Belvedere" was rediscovered in the Renaissance and was held to be the ideal of aesthetic beauty/perfection of the male form. To this day, it stands in the Vatican Palace. Next to it, we have the Venus de Milo, which was considered the ideal female form.
This style of using marble was copied by Renaissance artists and became a standard of beauty -- almost all famous Renaissance sculptures are carved of beautiful marble, including this sculpture (the Pieta, by Michelangelo).
So what is the problem? What color is marble? What color have we attributed to the ideal form of beauty? As you probably can tell, when we only see the marble statues, we start to associate ancient Romans with the white color of the marble...
This has even translated into modern cinema, with Romans portrayed by white actors (most often with British accents):
This has even translated into modern cinema, with Romans portrayed by white actors (most often with British accents):
Christian Bale and Joel Edgarton as Moses and Ramesses in "Exodus: Gods and Kings" (2014)
Part of the problem comes back to the reception of the ancient world -- how do we think of the Romans? Seeing white marble statues doesn't help, especially since they weren't originally white at all! We know from chemical analysis that they were painted (although most people don't realize this...). Take a look below at statues in their current state and what they would have looked like originally with their paint.
But what about every day Romans? Not the idealized ones in sculptures -- what did they look like? We actually know a good amount about what Romans really looked like through paintings and "encaustic portraits" (a topic we will study as we go through the year). These paintings were made after a person died and represent what they looked like in life. These are found in modern Egypt and give us a great look at the diversity of the Roman Empire. Take a look below!
The Ancient Roman Empire was a vast territory filled with many different races and ethnicities! Just like today, they had to deal with all sorts of diversity. How did they deal with race? Did they prize certain skin tones and condemn others? There is no evidence to support this! Even in terms of slavery, Romans did not enslave based on race! Now, there is evidence they looked down on certain ethnicities, but nothing to the level of racial discrimination today.
So, even though it seems pretty elementary to believe that Ancient Rome was multiethnic (and not all white), there are still people who refuse to believe this today. One of the most recent controversies centered around a BBC YouTube video depicting life in Roman Britain. In the video (you can see it below), the BBC portrayed the Roman governor Quintus Lollius Urbicus. This was a real man who was the Roman governor of Britain from 139-142 CE. In the descriptions we have of him, he was born in Numidia (North Africa) and is described as a "berber," which is an ethnic group in North Africa. Based on what we know of the berbers, it's a safe assumption that Q. Lollius Urbicus probably had darker skin. As such, the BBC depicted him with darker skin in the video. Take a look for yourself below...
You may not have thought much about the video, but it started a firestorm of racist comments online. A warning, some of the comments are truly horrific, but just remember we are using them as a teaching tool to be better!
In response to the horrible comments online, Professor Mary Beard (one of the world's most respected Roman historians) said the following: "What is fairly certain is that there were plenty of people in the Roman empire with names like Quintus Lollius Urbicus who were in our terms people of color."
To further prove the point, lets look at the Roman emperor Septimius Severus. He was born in Leptis Magna, in modern day Libya, and rose through the political ranks to become emperor. He is depicted as having darker skin, which makes sense given his place of birth. If the Romans had such a problem with race, as the modern YouTube commenters suggest, would the Romans have allowed Severus to become emperor? We have no record that anyone had a problem with his rule or race.
So why is this so important? Why do we bother thinking about race in Ancient Rome? Whenever we study history, it's critical that we understand all points of view and all aspects of it, not just the dominant culture's point of view! America was founded on Roman ideals (for better or worse) and many of these have infiltrated our culture in nefarious ways. We need to confront these head on to make sure people are not corrupting history to suit their political agenda...
In recent years, many alt-right and Neo-Nazi white supremacist groups have latched onto the idea that Romans were an all white "master race" (something they want to emulate and justify) and they use Roman symbols to spread their propaganda:
In recent years, many alt-right and Neo-Nazi white supremacist groups have latched onto the idea that Romans were an all white "master race" (something they want to emulate and justify) and they use Roman symbols to spread their propaganda:
This poster was used to advertise Charlottesville's "Unite the Right" rally in 2017. Notice how it has taken Benjamin Franklin's "Unite or Die" image from the Revolutionary War and filled in the snake with alt-right, Neo-Nazi symbols. If you look closely, among these symbols is the red and gold Roman eagle and "SPQR," the motto of the Roman Republic. Below is an image from the rally itself...
Robert Spencer, a white supremacist leader, has also used symbols from Ancient Rome in his propaganda on college campuses. Notice below the use of the Roman eagle, Roman statues and the Apollo Belvedere...
But these aren't the only examples of people misunderstanding race in the ancient world and defending the "white Roman world." In 2018, Professor Sarah Bond published an article explaining how Roman statues originally were painted and how this misunderstanding has led to many people thinking Romans were all white. She was attacked on social media by people like "Corgi Supremacist" (warning: strong language):
Also in 2018, Netflix released a new series called "Troy: Fall of a City" which cast David Gyasi, a British actor of Ghanaian descent, as Achilles, the famous Greek hero of the Trojan War. People were so used to seeing white actors (like Brad Pitt in the 2004 movie, "Troy") play these roles, that the idea of a black man portraying a Greek was offensive to them. One commenter online accused Netflix of "making Europeans believe there is nothing wrong with a black Achilles or a black Zeus and depriving them of their culture and their history in order to make them more susceptible to their globalist aims."
The irony of this "Troy" controversy is that the Ancient Greeks themselves seemed to have little problem with race. In the Homeric epic the Odyssey, the goddess Athena makes the Greek hero Odysseus look like a god by making him "melanchroies" ("dark skinned"). The famous ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote that "the Ethiopians... are said to be the tallest and most handsome of all men..." In the Odyssey, the gods are said to go to parties in Ethiopia ("for Zeus went yesterday... to the blameless Ethiopians for a feast, and all the gods followed with him...")
While we have looked at all sorts of media to see the complications and problems with how race in the ancient world is portrayed, we actually don't have to look very far. The textbook of our course, Ecce Romani, has its own issues that have yet to be sorted out. If you look closely at the images in the text, there are very few characters of color and the way slavery is depicted is often disturbing (the "happy slave" representation).
In the end, we must address these problems head on in order to make sure that we don't fall into the same trap that so many have fallen into of thinking that the ancient world was primarily "white". It distorts history and removes so much of the vibrant culture and heritage of those people who lived in the Roman Empire! As Doctor Beverly Tatum once said in a presentation to the staff of Needham High, if we are surrounded by pollution (in this case racism) and constantly breathe it in, we will inevitably spit some pollution out -- no matter how hard we try to not be racist.
Look around our classroom or even the culture of Latin in America today. It still has a reputation of being "elite," which often means that only white students take it (or only white students are told they are smart enough to take it). There is also a disturbingly low number of non-white Classics professors and students at the college/university level. In my own experience, I can only think of a handful of non-white students I studied with, which is really sad when you think about it.
This is why this topic is so important! Let's keep that in mind as we explore who the Romans really were throughout our time together!
In the end, we must address these problems head on in order to make sure that we don't fall into the same trap that so many have fallen into of thinking that the ancient world was primarily "white". It distorts history and removes so much of the vibrant culture and heritage of those people who lived in the Roman Empire! As Doctor Beverly Tatum once said in a presentation to the staff of Needham High, if we are surrounded by pollution (in this case racism) and constantly breathe it in, we will inevitably spit some pollution out -- no matter how hard we try to not be racist.
Look around our classroom or even the culture of Latin in America today. It still has a reputation of being "elite," which often means that only white students take it (or only white students are told they are smart enough to take it). There is also a disturbingly low number of non-white Classics professors and students at the college/university level. In my own experience, I can only think of a handful of non-white students I studied with, which is really sad when you think about it.
This is why this topic is so important! Let's keep that in mind as we explore who the Romans really were throughout our time together!