Black people in ancient Roman history facts for kids
In ancient Greece and Rome, people knew about many different skin tones. Some people were very pale, like those from Scythia (a region north of the Black Sea). Others were very dark, like those from sub-Saharan Africa, often called Aethiopes. Writings from that time sometimes mention people described as "black" or "Aethiopes." Art from the period also shows people with very dark skin and curly hair.
It's important to know that skin color didn't affect a person's social standing in ancient times. Being dark-skinned didn't mean you were seen as less important. The idea of racism, as we understand it today, didn't exist back then. A famous historian, Frank Snowden, Jr., said that ancient societies never judged a person based on their skin color.
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Who were the "Aethiopes"?
In ancient times, words like afer, maurus, niger, and melas were used to describe darker skin colors seen in everyday life around the Mediterranean Sea. The term "Aethiopes" was used for people with especially dark skin. The Greek poet Homer first wrote about them, describing them as distant, almost mythical people living at the very edge of the known world.
No ancient writer tried to classify people based on their skin color in a scientific way, like later, incorrect ideas about race. There wasn't even a clear definition of what "Aethiops" meant. The first contacts with these groups were along the Nile River, with kingdoms like Nubia. In myths, people from Aethiopia were often seen as very moral.
Where was Aethiopia?
One of the earliest mentions of Aethiopia is in Homer's Odyssey. He wrote about the god Poseidon visiting the Ethiopians, who lived "far away" and were divided into two groups: some where the sun sets and some where it rises.
Ancient maps and writings placed Aethiopia in the upper part of the hot desert zone, near the Red Sea. It was considered to be at the very end of the world known to ancient civilizations. Beyond its borders were unknown lands. Sometimes, "Aethiopes" were even described as mythical figures who lived beyond the edge of the known world.
Real People Called "Aethiopes"
People from Aethiopia were not common in the Roman capital. It was a very special and expensive event when a whole day's gladiator show featured only Aethiopes.
There's also a story (from a source that isn't always reliable) about an "Aethiop" soldier in Roman Britain around 210 CE. His dark skin was supposedly seen as a bad sign for Emperor Septimius Severus, who was from North Africa.
How Skin Tone Was Shown in Art
Ancient Roman art often showed a big difference in skin color between men and women. Roman women usually stayed indoors and out of the sun, so they were often shown with very pale skin. Men, however, were expected to be outside working in the sun, so they were often depicted with deep tans.
Separately, art also frequently showed people with very dark skin and curly hair, similar to people from sub-Saharan Africa. Some modern ideas about racism have wrongly suggested that these ancient artworks were racist. However, this is not true, as ancient Romans did not connect skin color with social status.
Views on Physical Differences
Greeks and Romans generally believed their own cultures were the best. They thought they lived in the perfect environment for people to do well. They often explained differences between groups of people by looking at the climate they lived in. For example, they might say people from the east were soft because of the warm climate, while people from the north were tough because of the cold.
Ancient writers never wrote about dark or black skin color having any social meaning. However, they did notice physical differences between people and groups. Roman art often shows many different types of people. But they never used these differences to create a fixed system of social classes. Being "Roman" was about sharing cultural traditions, not about having a certain skin color.
See also
- Aethiopia
- Romans in Sub-Saharan Africa
