Savage Barbarians?

[Riggle]

I don't know if anyone else knew this, but i just found out then =D. Thought it was pretty cool.

It was a show covering up what Barbarians were really like. But in some cases, barbarians were more civilized than romans.

Like Barbarians treated their children right, as innocent things, unlike the romans were you could dump them on the ground and leave them.

Barbarians respected woman, and gave them an equal chance. (The biggest wine vessel ever found was with a barbarian woman, made out of gold.)

Barbarians had more gold than rome, with over 400 gold mines in Gaul. Probably while Ceasar invaded them in the first place.

The Barbarian calender was much, much more accurate than the Romans ones were.

Andd the Barbarians were the first to have a sophisticated road system.

Rome learnt alot not just from Carthage, but from the Barbarians too =D.

[SimpleCourage47]

yea wasn't it terry jones the ex python that did that series ?

Yea barbarians are the best , i myself am Celtic (Irish and Scottish family) and it really annoys me that until recently people just thought of them as illiterate mindless savages, when in fact the rarely wrote things down due to religious reasons.

The astronomy of the pre Roman races is amazing , Romans weren't so good at inventing stuff rather they took other peoples idea's and improved them and as the Romans where usually the conquers then people only see the Roman view of things.

[Leeham991]

Categorizing "Barbarians" as one culture is a big mistake.

It's a bit like comparing the Humans and the Aliens in Halo3 (omg... Just listen) the Aliens have a larger force and some good specialists, but overall the humans are stronger all round.
Was the same with Rome and surrounding states.

[War lord]

Categorizing "Barbarians" as one culture is a big mistake.

It's a bit like comparing the Humans and the Aliens in Halo3 (omg... Just listen) the Aliens have a larger force and some good specialists, but overall the humans are stronger all round.
Was the same with Rome and surrounding states.

Quite the other way around.

[Leeham991]

Quite the other way around.

The aliens (tribes) are not all one culture though.

[War lord]

The aliens (tribes) are not all one culture though.

Yes but....

Unggoy serve out of fear for there lifes and are usless for anything more then fodder.

Kig-yar would stab the Jiralhanaein the back if they could.

Jiralhanae are loyal to there Chiefs more than the San 'Shyuum.

Mgalekgolo just like killing things.

Humans however can have many children and the more you kill the harder they fight.

[chaplain118]

To be fair though, the word barbarus in Latin have two possible origins. One is from Greek (barbaros), which meant "outsider, foreigner". However, the Latin "barbatus" (beard) could also have been an origin of the term, especially after the Second Punic War when Scipio Africanus popularized the clean shaven face. Eventually, the noun barbarus took up an adjective form of barbarinus, which leads to our modern word barbarian.

However, the term was initially used to refer to foreigners, not just the Gauls and Germanic tribes. It wasn't until the imperial borders of Rome were more or less established that the word barbarinus began to carry a heavy derogatory tone to it.

[13lackGu4rd]

the term "Barbarian" from the Greeks who used this term to reffer to their non Greek neighbors, aka Macedonians, Thracians, Minoans, etc. moreover the Greeks considered themselves superior to said Barbarians on the rather ridiculous(in modern day prespective) that the Greeks beat said Barbarians in battle. that was also the Greek's reasoning for having slaves(never Greek slaves, always Barbarian).

now the Romans copied this term and concept from the Greeks, like everything else they copied off of the Greek culture while renaming it to be Roman(the entire Roman Pantheon is an excellent example of this) and adapted it to the Roman empire as opposed to the Greeks(mainly Athenians).

another thing you need to remember is that history is always written by the strong, who obviously consider themselves as superior to the so called "weaklings". this is why the term Barbarian today has very negative connotations, when infact the original term just meant outsiders.

and 1 last thing about the Romans, the only thing the Romans were good at was their military. everything else they did was basically ripped off of other cultures, mostly from the Greeks but also from the Carthaginians and their so called "Barbaric" neighbors. the Romans achieved power and used it well, but giving the Romans credit for any non militaristic inventions is just plain wrong. it all came from other sources, most of who were eventually conquered by the Romans.

[Hakomar]

The romans didn't rip off other cultures. They adaptedm and some peoples didn't, and that is why they lost to their neighbours.

I believe you can always argue who was best. The cultures were rather different, and the barbarian tribes each had different cultures. You could say the romans improved or took away their culture, it has different viewpoints.

ABout the children remark, I believe some 'barbarians' trained their children from the age of ten to be warriors,

[13lackGu4rd]

The romans didn't rip off other cultures. They adaptedm and some peoples didn't, and that is why they lost to their neighbours.

I believe you can always argue who was best. The cultures were rather different, and the barbarian tribes each had different cultures. You could say the romans improved or took away their culture, it has different viewpoints.

ABout the children remark, I believe some 'barbarians' trained their children from the age of ten to be warriors,

call it whatever you want, the bottom line is that the Romans did not invent anything civilian, architecrutal, political, etc. all they did was "learn", if you so wish, from other cultures and put them into their own usage. the only thing the Romans truely invented was their military system, first with the Legions and all that and than the Marian Reforms.

[Maximus Macro]

call it whatever you want, the bottom line is that the Romans did not invent anything civilian, architecrutal, political, etc. all they did was "learn", if you so wish, from other cultures and put them into their own usage. the only thing the Romans truely invented was their military system, first with the Legions and all that and than the Marian Reforms.

ever heard of concrete?pretty big discovery if you ask me

[Orko]

ever heard of concrete?pretty big discovery if you ask me

Well, it was here before them. but totally different, and the Romans made it an actually good building material. Also, their governance and civilian systems and roads and architecture are things you can give them some credit for.

[Maximus Macro]

Well, it was here before them. but totally different, and the Romans made it an actually good building material. Also, their governance and civilian systems and roads and architecture are things you can give them some credit for.

yes i know its called Opus caementicium ,they added vulcanic dust and so created a much better concrete that could even set under water

[stanley86]

I thought about Terry Jones too. I remember that one episode about the Celts. They showed the trade network in Gaul - it was impressive. Also the two-storeyed (sp?) house with the basement, a big architectural achievement. But as 13lackGu4rd wrote, the history is always written by the winners and strong.
The episode about the Persians (the Acheamenid dynasty, the Parthians) was interesting also. Really nice series, and plus for Terry Jones.

[Theoroshia]

The Greeks invented flame throwers.

[confidential0216]

Romans were awesome. And they're still hanging out on their seven hills. Gotta love 'em.

[chaplain118]

To say that the Romans didn't invent anything is just outlandish. A Republican form of government like that of Rome's was almost unheard of in the Mediterranean. Carthage had a similar form of government but the degree of autonomy granted to their outside colonies was nowhere near as extensive as that of Rome's. Roman engineering, bred for war, was still utilized greatly in peace. The development of a powerful army that can adapt to various threats and tactics speaks volumes in terms of innovation. After all, most of our modern day conveniences originated either directly from the military or from the needs of the military (communication, modern medicine, computers, synthetic fibers, miniaturization, nuclear power, jet engines, the wheel, mass production, gun powder, etc).

On the flip side, how can you invent new things if you don't learn the basics? Someone who has never learned basic math can't invent calculus, someone who has never learned economics can't invent a new monetary policy. You can't run before you can walk.

In addition, Romans gave the world Latin, which is pretty damn important.

[saxdude]

spanish, french, italian, portuguese, dare i say inglish to an extent, theres a reason for such similarities in the languages, words and letters, cause alot of european languages have come from or have some sort of relationship with latin.
also republic politics are not something that france or US esponteanously thought of, to that and democracy we owe alot more to the romans than, say, the Athenians.

[13lackGu4rd]

ever heard of concrete?pretty big discovery if you ask me

as already said, concrete was available before the Romans. the Romans just improved it to make it better, they didnt invent it...

To say that the Romans didn't invent anything is just outlandish. A Republican form of government like that of Rome's was almost unheard of in the Mediterranean. Carthage had a similar form of government but the degree of autonomy granted to their outside colonies was nowhere near as extensive as that of Rome's. Roman engineering, bred for war, was still utilized greatly in peace. The development of a powerful army that can adapt to various threats and tactics speaks volumes in terms of innovation. After all, most of our modern day conveniences originated either directly from the military or from the needs of the military (communication, modern medicine, computers, synthetic fibers, miniaturization, nuclear power, jet engines, the wheel, mass production, gun powder, etc).

Republican form of government taken from the Greeks and Carthaginians, and adapted to fit an empire as opposed to a city state. Roman engineering isnt original either, it's taken from the Greeks too. yes I said they didnt invent anything but militaristic inventions, which is the only thing I give Romans credit for as far as inventions go! the rest are mere improvements or simply copies and adaptations. also they didnt really invent Latin, it's just that it was the language they used, and because the Roman Empire was so large and influential Latin is still with us today, as I said earlier, history is written by the powerful... keep in mind that I was talking purely about inventions not long term influence or anything like that...

On the flip side, how can you invent new things if you don't learn the basics? Someone who has never learned basic math can't invent calculus, someone who has never learned economics can't invent a new monetary policy. You can't run before you can walk.

In addition, Romans gave the world Latin, which is pretty damn important.

there's a difference between learning the basics and simply copying things from other cultures and simply adapting them into your own. heck, the whole Roman culture is a rip off of the Greek culture, including the Roman Pantheon which is exactly the same as the Greek Pantheon just with different names...

[keebz]

as already said, concrete was available before the Romans. the Romans just improved it to make it better, they didnt invent it...

Who cares if they didn't invent it? Significant improvements are just as good, if not a better contribution to mankind.