When you hear the word barbarian, what image comes to mind? Maybe a fierce warrior clad in animal skins, shouting battle cries on distant fields? That’s the picture movies and stories often paint. But in reality, the term is much more complex and it all starts with language, not ethnicity.
Barbarian Ethnicity: A Label, Not a Lineage
The word barbarian wasn’t originally used to describe a specific people or tribe. It came from the ancient Greeks, who saw the world through their own language and culture. To the Greeks, anyone who didn’t speak Greek sounded like they were saying bar-bar-bar a strange babbling noise. This babble became a quick way to label all non-Greek-speaking peoples.
So, were Egyptians barbarians? What about Persians or Phoenicians? From the Greek point of view, yes. They all fell under the broad term barbarian simply because they didn’t speak Greek or follow Greek customs. It wasn’t about who they were, but who they were not
