barbarians

Barbarian is a historical term used to describe people considered outside the civilizations of Greece and Rome. The word derives from the Greek barbaros, originally a label for foreigners whose speech sounded like bar-bar-bar to Greek ears; the Romans borrowed barbarus to denote non-Roman or non-Greek peoples, and by late antiquity it carried a value judgment of cultural difference and perceived inferiority.

In classical antiquity, barbarians were those living beyond the culturally dominant Greek world or Roman state. The category encompassed a variety of groups—Celts, Germanic tribes, Thracians, and other peoples—differing in language, law, and social organization. The term appeared in literature and diplomacy and could be used to contrast "civilized" urban societies with frontier or migratory communities. It did not always denote savagery; some groups adopted Roman laws, Christianity, and urban institutions.

Following the decline of the Western Roman Empire, the term extended to the various kingdoms established by invading and settled groups such as the Goths, Vandals, Franks, and Lombards. In this period, barbarians became political actors rather than mere outsiders, and the label reflected anxieties about security and state formation on the frontiers of Rome. Some barbarian elites integrated into Roman governance and Christianity, while others founded distinct legal and cultural systems.

In modern scholarship, barbarian is treated as a historically contingent label rather than a precise ethnography. It is criticized for ethnocentrism and oversimplification, and scholars prefer specific ethnonyms and historical contexts to describe frontier peoples and their interactions with Rome and later states.