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We may start with Posidonius who came from the Syrian city of Apamea on theOrontes (c. 135-c.51 BC). His work has not survived, but a fairly large number ofdirect quotations by later authors are available for consideration. Interesting for ourinquiry is a passage in which he tells of the cities in Syria and how luxurious theywere, writing as follows: ‘The people in the cities, at any rate, because of the greatplenty which their land afforded, (were relieved) of any distress regarding thenecessaries of life; hence they held many gatherings at which they feasted continually,using the gymnasia as if they were baths, anointing themselves with expensive oil andperfumes, and living in the “bonds” – for so they called the commons where thediners met – as though they were their private houses, and putting in the greater partof the day there in filling their bellies – there, in the midst of wines and foods soabundant that they even carried a great deal home with them besides – and indelighting their ears with sounds from a loud-twanging tortoise-shell (i.e. a lyre), sothat their towns rang from end to end with such noises.’18
[...] Posidonius does not identify himself as a Syrian. His negative view of Syrians andSyria echoes the usual stereotypes of weak, decadent easterners found in Greece andRome, just as his positive views of Italians echo their own chauvinist views of theirown ancestors. Apparently he fully identifies with the familiar prejudices of theimperial elite and prefers not to insist on his own origins in Syria.
[...] A similar phenomenon may be found a century later in the work of Ptolemy ofAlexandria (c.146-c.170) in his Tetrabiblos, the work in which he attempted to adapthoroscopic astrology to the Aristotelian natural philosophy of his day.39 Here we arefaced with yet another type of text: scientific prose. It is fascinating to see how thiswork repeats the usual stereotypes concerning various peoples of the Roman Empire,basing them very firmly on astrological analysis. Thus northern peoples, especiallythose of western Europe are ‘independent, liberty-loving, fond of arms, industrious,very warlike, with qualities of leadership, cleanly, and magnanimous ... but withoutpassion for women and they look down upon the pleasures of love, but are bettersatisfied with … men.40 Gaul, Britain, Germany and Bastrania are … fierce, moreheadstrong and bestial.41
However, men from the western Mediterranean are clearly superior and destined torule: ‘Italy, Apulia, Cisalpine Gaul and Sicily … are more masterful, benevolent andco-operative.’ The same is true for Greece and its neighbours: ‘[The peoples in] theparts of this quarter which are situated about the centre of the inhabited world, Thrace,Macedonia, Illyria, Hellas, Archaia, Crete, and likewise the Cyclades, and the coastalregions of Asia Minor and Cyprus …. have qualities of leadership and are noble andindependent, because of Mars; they are liberty-loving and self-governing, democraticand framers of law, through Jupiter..’42
When he comes to the peoples of the Near East, neighbours or in the vicinity of hisown province of Egypt, the tone changes drastically: ‘Idumaea, Coele Syria, Judaea,Phoenicia, Chaldaea, Orchinia, and Arabia Felix … more gifted in trade and exchange; they are more unscrupulous, despicable cowards, treacherous, servile, andin general fickle … Of these, again, the inhabitants of Coele Syria, Idumaea, andJudaea are … in general bold, godless, and scheming.’ 43
All this repeats in general terms the usual stereotypes for those peoples. The only trueexception is the description of Ptolemy’s native Egypt: 2.3.49.1-50.1 ‘Lower Egypt:thoughtful and intelligent and facile in all things, especially in the search for wisdomand religion; they are magicians and performers of secret mysteries and in generalskilled in mathematics.’ This is entirely different from the usual complex of negativestereotypes found about Egypt throughout antiquity: the Egyptians are fraudulent,promiscuous, greedy, fickle, rebellious, etc. etc.44 It is in itself interesting to see theflexibility of astrology as applied to ethnography, but that is not the issue of thepresent paper. The point to be considered here is the obvious indication of ill-will andhostility that could exist between neighbouring peoples and provinces of whatundoubtedly was a reasonably well-integrated empire at the height of its power.Ptolemy is chauvinist regarding his own provincial background, but aggressivelynegative about neighbouring peoples and provinces and those farther away.
[...] In the followingpassage in On Hirelings, Lucian Greek in culture, from Samosata in Syria, satirizesthe local, Roman response to the presence of Greeks in the society of contemporaryRome:
‘That was still left for us in addition to our other afflictions, to play second fiddle tomen who have just come into the household, and it is only these Greeks who have thefreedom of the city of Rome. And yet, why is it that they are preferred to us? Is it nottrue that they think they confer a tremendous benefit by turning phrases?’55
The speaker here is a fictional character, a local Roman who feels he is being pushedaside in Roman society by Greeks with their smooth talk. In another passage of thesame work, 40, there is a suggestion that there was an automatic presumption thatevery Greek is less reliable than any local Roman.56
