The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity

by Benjamin H. Isaac

There 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.


Magisterial in scope and scholarship, and engagingly written, The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity further suggests that an understanding of ancient attitudes toward other peoples sheds light not only on Greco-Roman imperialism and the ideology of enslavement (and the concomitant integration or non-integration) of foreigners in those societies, but also on the disintegration of the Roman Empire and on more recent imperialism as well. The first part considers general themes in the history of discrimination; the second provides a detailed analysis of proto-racism and prejudices toward particular groups of foreigners in the Greco-Roman world. The last chapter concerns Jews in the ancient world, thus placing anti-Semitism in a broader context.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race, Ancient History, Classics, Classical Studies, Sociology

592 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Isaac, B.H
Isaac, Benjamin.
Isaac, Benjamin, 1945-
Isaac, Benjamin H
Isaac, Benjamin Henri, 1945-
ʾIyzaq, Henriy Binyamiyn, 1945-
Izaḳ, Binyamin
Izak, Binyamin, 1945-
איזק, בנימין
איזק, הנרי בנימין 1945-....

Reviews

[Eric Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't with this book. I understand the message of the book and wholeheartedly support it. The problem is that I can't pay attention to a poorly written book. The formatting is distracting, and I struggle to focus on the book since it's not well done. I usually don't DNF books like this, because I like to learn, but I'm more distracted trying to read it, and the author is trying to make a point, which isn't working for me at least. I don't think it's poorly researched; it's not. However, I struggle to follow along and sit there, plodding along without worrying about changing pages and the like. Maybe I'd be less distracted if it were formatted better, but for now, I have to move on.

[Kyle Bonney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well it was very thorough. More than I was looking for on this topic so I skimmed about half of it but found it really interesting.

One thing I liked was how he pointed out that a statement reflected prejudice or xenophobia or negative stereotype but not “proto-racism”, although at times I wondered why the distinction mattered. I found the more moderate and tolerant authors to be surprising and kind of inspiring (Herodotus on the Persians).

[Buğra Duman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would treat it as a great resource of the Ancients' takes on other peoples. I mostly agree with some other authors' criticisms that Isaac does not seem to have completely disconnected himself from contemporary discourses on race.

If you have any interest in "Othering" in Antiquity, though, this is a must-read.