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Barbarians

Barbarians were originally those who could not speak Greek. Later it denoted the community or tribe not belonging to one of the great civilizations - Greek, Roman, and Christian. However, it ultimately become synonymous with the uncivilised and people without culture, particularly literary, this is the sense in which Matthew Arnold used it.

A member of such a community is called barbarian, and also anything of or relating to those ancient barbarians. It also refers to someone who is uncultured and brutish.


Page last modified on Monday July 20, 2020 05:02:32 GMT-0000