Roman Ethnography Bias Of The Roman Empire - 1014 Words

Roman Ethnography: Bias of the Roman Empire The Roman ethnographies, interpretations of outside cultures, on the tribes people they encountered during the Empire’s expansion reveal more about unique Roman characteristics than the characteristics of the barbarian tribes. The Roman Empire was vast, densely populated, and militarily, politically and socially sophisticated. This structure created shared customs, religious beliefs, orders, values, and goals for all Roman citizens. During the Roman Empire’s expansion, Roman historians wrote ethnographies about the different foreign tribes of people encountered. The shell-shock of hearing and experiencing new and different cultures for the first time contributed to the Roman bias found†¦show more content†¦A similar view can be found in Strabo’s ethnography when he describes the tribe’s people of Gaul as barbaric and exotic due to their custom of hanging the decapitated heads of their enemies around thei r horses necks after a victorious battle (Strabo 12). Both Strabo and Ammianus insinuate that the tribes violent cultures result from their exotic customs and gruesome characteristics. These prejudice undertones are born out of the Roman value of mos maiorum (the way of the elders). The Romans avoided change and valued keeping old traditions and customs passed down from previous generations; to illustrate, Strabo and Ammianus were prejudice towards the lack of uniformity and continuity of the tribes peoples strange customs and differing characteristics. Prejudice is only one of the ways we can see Roman bias in these ethnographies. Throughout their observations of the Gauls and the Huns and Alans, both Strabo and Ammianus have a Roman agenda implicating the supreme values and status of the Roman Empire to Roman readers in order to bolster their ethnocentrism . When referring to the Celtic people (tribes of Gauls), Strabo reveals the ethnocentrism of the Roman Empire, â€Å"At the present time, they are all at peace, since they have been enslaved and are living in accordance with the commands of the Romans who captured them, but it is from the early times that I am taking this account of them†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Strabo 4).Show MoreRelatedAgricola and Germania Essay1604 Words   |  7 Pagespurposes: The Agricola is a eulogy praising Tacituss father-in-law, and commander of Britian, Agricola. The Germania is an ethnography on German people. Both stories are told through the eyes of Tacitus as he indirectly criticizes Roman politics and society. His reason for snaking in these criticisms in such a crafty manner had b een due to his friendship with high ranking Roman officials whom he did not want to upset. His criticisms were derived from his experiences with Agricola, speeches given byRead MoreRastafarian79520 Words   |  319 Pagesto the world. Later I will return to these issues and will demonstrate how they contribute to the routinization of Rastafari in Jamaica. The nature of this book dictates a heavy reliance on documentary analysis. My focus is interpretation not ethnography. Therefore, I have not sought to generate primary data on the movement but to analyze and re-analyze the growing body of scholarly and popular literature on the movement, including sociological and anthropological studies, biographies, monographsRead MoreContemporary Issues in Management Accounting211377 Words   |  846 Pagesthe assumed atomistic behaviour of organizational participants using accounting disciplinary mechanisms. Correspondingly, Tinker et al. (1982: 191) argue that management accounting is implicated in the perpetuation of a ‘neoconservative ideological bias’, playing an increasingly important role in the allocation of resources throughout society. These writers are particularly critical of a lack of overt awareness of the social and political forms of power enmeshed in, and garnered by, this approach