Benjamin Isaac - Böcker

Is it possible to speak of western racism before the eighteenth century? The term 'racism' is normally only associated with theories, which first appeared in the eighteenth century, about inherent biological differences that made one group superior to another. In this book, however, leading historians argue that racism can be traced back to the attitudes of the ancient Greeks to their Persian enemies and that it was adopted, adjusted and re-formulated by Europeans right through until the dawn of the Enlightenment. From Greek teachings on environmental determinism and heredity, through medieval concepts of physiognomy, down to the crystallization of attitudes to Indians, Blacks, Jews and Gypsies in the early modern era, they analyse the various routes by which racist ideas travelled before maturing into murderous ideologies in the modern western world. In so doing this book offers a major reassessment of the place of racism in pre-modern European thought.

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.

Benjamin Isaac is one of the most distinguished historians of the ancient world, with a number of landmark monographs to his name. This volume collects most of his published articles and book chapters of the last two decades, many of which are not easy to access, and republishes them for the first time along with some brand new chapters. The focus is on Roman concepts of state and empire and mechanisms of control and integration. Isaac also discusses ethnic and cultural relationships in the Roman Empire and the limits of tolerance and integration, as well as attitudes to foreigners and minorities, including Jews. The book will appeal to scholars and students of ancient, imperial, and military history, as well as to those interested in the ancient history of problems which still resonate in today's societies.

Is it possible to speak of western racism before the eighteenth century? The term 'racism' is normally only associated with theories, which first appeared in the eighteenth century, about inherent biological differences that made one group superior to another. In this book, however, leading historians argue that racism can be traced back to the attitudes of the ancient Greeks to their Persian enemies and that it was adopted, adjusted and re-formulated by Europeans right through until the dawn of the Enlightenment. From Greek teachings on environmental determinism and heredity, through medieval concepts of physiognomy, down to the crystallization of attitudes to Indians, Blacks, Jews and Gypsies in the early modern era, they analyse the various routes by which racist ideas travelled before maturing into murderous ideologies in the modern western world. In so doing this book offers a major reassessment of the place of racism in pre-modern European thought.

Benjamin Isaac is one of the most distinguished historians of the ancient world, with a number of landmark monographs to his name. This volume collects most of his published articles and book chapters of the last two decades, many of which are not easy to access, and republishes them for the first time along with some brand new chapters. The focus is on Roman concepts of state and empire and mechanisms of control and integration. Isaac also discusses ethnic and cultural relationships in the Roman Empire and the limits of tolerance and integration, as well as attitudes to foreigners and minorities, including Jews. The book will appeal to scholars and students of ancient, imperial, and military history, as well as to those interested in the ancient history of problems which still resonate in today's societies.

The second volume of the Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae covers the inscriptions of Caesarea Maritima and the coastal region of the Middle Coast from Tel Aviv in the south to Haifa in the north from the time of Alexander to the Muslim conquest. The approx. 1,050 texts comprise all the languages used for inscriptions during this period (Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Aramaic, Samaritan, Syrian, and Persian) and are arranged according to the principal settlements and their territory. The great majority of the texts belongs to Caesarea, the capital of the province of Judaea/Syria Palaestina. No other place in Judaea has produced more Latin inscriptions than this area, reflecting the strong Roman influence on the city.

The first volume of the Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae covers the inscriptions of Jerusalem from the time of Alexander to the Arab conquest in all the languages used for inscriptions during those times: Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, Syrian, and Armenian. The 1,120 texts have been arranged in categories based on three epochs: up to the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70, to the beginning of the 4th century, and to the end of Byzantine rule in the 7th century.

The first volume of the Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae covers the inscriptions of Jerusalem from the time of Alexander to the Arab conquest in all the languages used for inscriptions during those times: Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, Syrian, and Armenian. The approximately 1,100 texts have been arranged in categories based on three epochs: up to the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70, to the beginning of the 4th century, and to the end of Byzantine rule in the 7th century.

Volume IV/1 of the CIIP includes all inscriptions from the regions known as Judea and Idumea in ancient times. It does not include Jerusalem, whose inscriptions were previously presented in Volume 1. The inscriptions are epigraphic texts in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Aramaic, Georgian, and Armenian.

Volume VI of the CIIP covers inscriptions from southern Israel, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordanian border and from Beersheba to Eilat on the Red Sea.  The chronological framework ranges from the time of Alexander the Great to the end of Byzantine rule in the 7th century. Inscriptions in all languages found in the region are included: from Nabataean to Aramaic, Armenian, and Thamudic. Most inscriptions, however, are written in Greek. There are also texts in Latin, primarily in a military context. The inscriptons are translated and commented on. The more than 1230 texts are arranged geographically according to their places of origin. They come from over 50 locations, including many almost unknown ones with only a few texts, as well as from the city of Beersheva or larger ancient settlements like Elusa, Mampsis, Nessana or Oboda.A second part mainly comprises new inscriptions for volumes CIIP I-V, which have become known to the editors since the publication of the respective volumes. There are more than 870. Also included are 50 texts from the hinterland of the Middle Coast (vol. II). Furthermore, additional data is given for about 150 inscriptions that were already published in the previous volumes I-V.