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talkpoliticsJust as there is no single brand of civilization, there is also no single brand of barbarism. In the ancient world any alien civilization that did not conform to local customs was seen as barbarous. The Greeks considered Carthage to be barbarous for practicing human sacrifice. The people of Carthage may have reciprocated with a perception of the Greeks as primitive pederasts. Greece looked to Egypt for leadership in cultural advancement as Israel looked away from Babylon.
The people considered most barbarous by the ancient Greeks were nomadic plains tribes north of the Black Sea. The description of their lifestyle resembles that of some Native Americans at the time of the European invasion. Unlike the "civilized" Greeks, the Scythians had no apparent urban center. They roamed the plains taxing the local peasants for grain to export to Greece. They lived a life of land piracy. The peasants who fell victim to Scythian depredations were not worthy of mention in Greek literature, just as the slaves who labor away for the American chocolate market remain invisible to most Americans.
By the time Rome had reached its Zenith the Scythians had been displaced by a population of Nordic barbarians. They too practiced piracy, but it was mostly against Greek settlements on the Black Sea. Gothic raiders in Greece resembled their Viking cousins to come centuries later.
The Goths were converted to Christianity by heretics at a time when heresy was the norm. This conversion was not considered complete until they eventually succumbed to the oppression of the Trinity. We can get a good idea of heretical Gothic culture from the description of the Gothic occupation of Rome in the works of Procopius. Most Orthodox writers tended to focus on atrocities committed during the Gothic invasion. Procopius shows a different aspect of Gothic culture as it fell to the forces of Justinian and Orthodoxy.
Procopius describes the Gothic women as "manly." They spat on their own men during the surrender of Rome. This image alone speaks volumes about the difference in ethos between Greco-Roman "civilization" and the barbarian invaders who eventually occupied its territory. It shows us why those who romanticize Rome also demonize feminism. From the Barbarian perspective their own men had become soft and weak. Living a life of luxury in Rome had taken away their will to stand up to Orthodox despotism. They had been emasculated by the dark force of opulence.
The people considered most barbarous by the ancient Greeks were nomadic plains tribes north of the Black Sea. The description of their lifestyle resembles that of some Native Americans at the time of the European invasion. Unlike the "civilized" Greeks, the Scythians had no apparent urban center. They roamed the plains taxing the local peasants for grain to export to Greece. They lived a life of land piracy. The peasants who fell victim to Scythian depredations were not worthy of mention in Greek literature, just as the slaves who labor away for the American chocolate market remain invisible to most Americans.
By the time Rome had reached its Zenith the Scythians had been displaced by a population of Nordic barbarians. They too practiced piracy, but it was mostly against Greek settlements on the Black Sea. Gothic raiders in Greece resembled their Viking cousins to come centuries later.
The Goths were converted to Christianity by heretics at a time when heresy was the norm. This conversion was not considered complete until they eventually succumbed to the oppression of the Trinity. We can get a good idea of heretical Gothic culture from the description of the Gothic occupation of Rome in the works of Procopius. Most Orthodox writers tended to focus on atrocities committed during the Gothic invasion. Procopius shows a different aspect of Gothic culture as it fell to the forces of Justinian and Orthodoxy.
Procopius describes the Gothic women as "manly." They spat on their own men during the surrender of Rome. This image alone speaks volumes about the difference in ethos between Greco-Roman "civilization" and the barbarian invaders who eventually occupied its territory. It shows us why those who romanticize Rome also demonize feminism. From the Barbarian perspective their own men had become soft and weak. Living a life of luxury in Rome had taken away their will to stand up to Orthodox despotism. They had been emasculated by the dark force of opulence.
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Date: 24/4/12 15:25 (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 25/4/12 15:58 (UTC)One of the significant difference between the Byzantine Greeks and their predecessors was the love of knowledge. The Byzantines were so down on the pursuit of knowledge that they shut down the schools at Athens. This antipathy can be seen in the West in the writing of Irenaeus. He was thoroughly opposed to intellectual pursuits.
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Date: 25/4/12 17:50 (UTC)Byzantium saved all those Hellenistic manuscripts Islam and the West used for their philosophy.
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Date: 25/4/12 17:54 (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 26/4/12 07:07 (UTC)