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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 70
... living in their midst . It does not follow that we can deduce from their writings how the Greeks and Romans treated them in practice in day - to - day life . There are several reasons for this . First , and most obviously , the authors ...
... living in the temperate climate of his own part of the world to be the most beautiful people possible . Buffon has an obsession with the aesthetics of hu- manity common to other racial theorists of his times , whereby ideas of beauty ...
... living in the temperate climates he knew of as the most beautiful . 2 7 Some nineteenth - century racists still allowed for the environment to play a de- cisive role in the formation of race , as well as hereditary factors.28 This is ...
... living as immi- grants or minorities among them ( Vincendo Victi Sumus ) . The large - scale pres- ence of aliens and immigrants in the imperial capital and in Italy caused social tension in the local society , familiar from our own ...
... living east of Italy , Greeks , var- ious peoples in Asia Minor , Syrians , Egyptians and others , always played a large role in the Roman perception of their empire because of their high cultural level and their ancient religious and ...