The Invention of Racism in Classical AntiquityThere was racism in the ancient world, after all. This groundbreaking book refutes the common belief that the ancient Greeks and Romans harbored "ethnic and cultural," but not racial, prejudice. It does so by comprehensively tracing the intellectual origins of racism back to classical antiquity. Benjamin Isaac's systematic analysis of ancient social prejudices and stereotypes reveals that some of those represent prototypes of racism--or proto-racism--which in turn inspired the early modern authors who developed the more familiar racist ideas. He considers the literature from classical Greece to late antiquity in a quest for the various forms of the discriminatory stereotypes and social hatred that have played such an important role in recent history and continue to do so in modern society. |
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... determined , at least in part , by commonplaces and vague ideas currently accepted , and to a lesser degree than might seem reasonable by well - informed assessments . For this study I shall use all the available literary sources in ...
... determine the treatment of subject peoples , their integration , or suppression . Considering them may help in clarifying an aspect of warfare that tends to be somewhat neglected , at least in ancient history . This may be illustrated ...
... determined in large part by the views both sides have of the other and themselves . Such views may be formed by good intelligence work and cautious evaluation , but sets of stereotypes inevitably play an important role , which is one of ...
... determined by nature . Obviously , the concept by nature derives directly from Greek ethnography and philosophy . " So fundamental is the difference between these two races of man , and it appears to be as great in regard to mental ...
... determine where to stop . Ideally all of antiquity should be taken into account , even though this book is rather long as it is . Lack of space is a feeble excuse which a serious author should never use , just as lack of time never is a ...