Blacks in Antiquity: Ethiopians in the Greco-Roman ExperienceThe Africans who came to ancient Greece and Italy participated in an important chapter of classical history. Although evidence indicated that the alien dark- and black-skinned people were of varied tribal and geographic origins, the Greeks and Romans classified many of them as Ethiopians. In an effort to determine the role of black people in ancient civilization, Mr. Snowden examines a broad span of Greco-Roman experience--from the Homeric era to the age of Justinian--focusing his attention on the Ethiopians as they were known to the Greeks and Romans. The author dispels unwarranted generalizations about the Ethiopians, contending that classical references to them were neither glorifications of a mysterious people nor caricatures of rare creatures. Mr. Snowden has probed literary, epigraphical, papyrological, numismatic, and archaeological sources and has considered modern anthropological and sociological findings on pertinent racial and intercultural problems. He has drawn directly upon the widely scattered literary evidence of classical and early Christian writers and has synthesized extensive and diverse material. Along with invaluable reference notes, Mr. Snowden has included over 140 illustrations which depict the Negro as the Greeks and Romans conceived of him in mythology and religion and observed him in a number of occupations--as servant, diplomat, warrior, athlete, and performer, among others. Presenting an exceptionally comprehensive historical description of the first major encounter of Europeans with dark and black Africans, Mr. Snowden found that the black man in a predominantly white society was neither romanticized nor scorned--that the Ethiopian in classical antiquity was considered by pagan and Christian without prejudice. |
Contents
The Physical Characteristics of Ethiopians | 1 |
GrecoRoman World | 15 |
The Physical Characteristics of Ethiopians | 22 |
GrecoRoman Acquaintance with African Ethiopians | 101 |
Greek Encounters with Ethiopian Warriors | 121 |
Ethiopians in Classical Mythology | 144 |
Ethiopians in the Theater and Amphitheater | 156 |
GrecoRoman Attitude toward Ethiopians Theory | 169 |
Early Christian Attitude toward Ethiopians | 196 |
Common terms and phrases
Aeschylus Aethiops Africa Agatharchides Alexandria ancient Andromeda anthropological Antiquities appears artist Ashmolean Museum Athens Axumites Beazley Berlin Blemmyes British Museum bronze Catalogue Chap cited classical color courtesy dark depicted described Diodorus East Berlin Egypt Egyptian elephants Ethi Ethiopians evidence fifth century B.c. figure fourth century B.c. Greco-Roman grecques Greek Greeks and Romans hair Hellenistic Herodotus History Homeric interpretation Kabeiric king Leipzig lekythos Libyan Loeb London mahouts marble Memnon mentioned Meroë Meroïtic Moretum Moses Museo Nazionale Napata Naturalis historia Negroid Negroid type niger Nigra Nile Nobades nose notes Nubia opians Origen Ovid Oxford painting Paris perhaps period Persian Petronius Philae Photo physical characteristics plate Pliny Naturalis historia Ptolemy pygmies race racial red-figured reference Rome scene Scythians second century A.D. skin slave south of Egypt Staatliche Museen statuette Strabo suggests supra terra cotta thick lips tightly curled tradition vase warrior woman woolly woolly-haired Αἰθίοψ μέλας