Regere imperio populos pacique imponere morem : sobre la alteridad, la etnicidad y la identidad en Roma

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Power and alterity: Depictions of the Vascones from antiquity to the middle ages

“…Urbanization also received substantial support. Roman-style settlements have been identified in Los Bañales de Uncastillo (Andreu 2022) and Santa Criz de Eslava (Andreu et al 2019), while others were founded in Grachurris and Calagurris, on the shores of the Ebro River, as well as in Oiasso on the Atlantic coast. Although the Vascon filiation of these cities has been contested (Jordán 2006: 96;Wulff 2009: 41) they remain important as regional centers in a network of trade hubs, hamlets, and security posts that punctuated the new ways of communication.…”

“…According to Roman perceptions of landscapes, cities were not only densely populated spaces: they also constituted the last stop in the road to civilization (Varro, De Re Rustica , 3.1.1; Morton 1997: 25–6; Arce 2000: 4). Great ranges devoid of major settlements, like the Pyrenees, loomed in their collective imagination as a “different world”: one inhabited by unruly savages, fugitives from the plains, and menacing bandits (Andreu 2009: 219–20; Shaw 2018: 503). In their eyes, the dwellers of non-urbanized areas, especially those from mountainous regions, were perceived as existing still in a primal stage of development and were, thus, doomed to act “on the animal impulse, and [to live] most corruptly” (Strab., Geo .…”

“…Firstly, it becomes evident that these works depict the Vascones as a barbarian people, an inferior “Other” to the Romans, characterized by their ferocity, their lack of sense of self-preservation, or their religious rituals. Andreu and Jordán have suggested that these portrayals should be viewed as concerted attempts to elevate the relative position of the Romans as the epitome of civilization, and to legitimate their rule over these populations as a natural development (Andreu and Jordán 2007: 238; Andreu 2009: 217–8). It is hardly coincidental that the two most damning accusations made against the Vascones originate from an epic poem narrating the most important military triumph of the Romans and from a geographer that considered that his discipline was “essential” to acquire “dominion over land and sea” (Strab.…”

“…46). Secondly, the association between Vascones and a lack of civilization was heavily indebted to Strabo or Silius Italicus, both of whom established a direct link between inhabiting a remote, mountainous land and regressing to a more primitive stage of human development (Beltrán 2006: 220; Andreu 2009: 219–20; Pozo 2016: 126; Sáenz 2022: 9). The only difference was that Ausonius added paganism to the long list of negative qualities attributed to these purported “barbarians.”…”

“…For example, narratives produced by Greek or Roman authorities, especially those that identified the origins of certain populations with myths such as those of Troy or Herakles, might have been fundamental in assigning a place for these groups in the Graeco-Roman system of knowledge, while also allowing locals to maintain pride in at least certain elements of their culture and customs (Woolf 2011: 27–8). In this regard, it is important to note that these discourses likely drew upon sources of different provenance, reflecting an interplay of various traditions – both Graeco-Roman and native – that were only later filtered through the view of ancient ethnographers (Andreu 2009: 218–9; Woolf 2011: 18–9).…”