Originally published on October 31, 2018 (Episode 84)
Introduction
Civilizations’s greatest monster—the terrible specter that haunts comfortable and prosperous societies—has always been the barbarian. That’s the creature that arrives and destroys all that comfort and prosperity, that leaves ruins behind; that forces people to question whether all that comfort and prosperity was worth it, and whether they should have been barbarians themselves.
In this episode, Erik Jensen and I explore how Greeks and Romans defined, feared, and sometimes admired barbarians. From Persians to Goths, barbarians forced classical societies to ask what they themselves stood for.
About the Guest
Erik Jensen was at the time of the conversation Associate Professor at Salem State University.
For Further Investigation
Erik Jensen, Barbarians in the Greek and Roman World (Hackett, 2018)
Ariel Helfer, Socrates and Alcibiades: Plato’s Drama of Political Ambition and Philosophy (Penn, 2017)
Richard Fletcher, The Barbarian Conversion: From Paganism to Christianity (California, 1999)
C.P. Cavafy, “Waiting for the Barbarians”
Related Episodes
“Tacitus”—with Eric Adler
“The Eternal Decline and Fall of Rome”—for a related idea
“Disruption”—when everything is going wrong
Listen & Discuss
Why did Greeks label the rich and talented Persians as “barbarians”?
Why are barbarians both terrifying and attractive figures in history?
Know someone who likes to call their enemies “barbarians”? Share this episode with them.
