Barbarian is a word used to describe an uncivilized or uncultivated person. It comes from the Greek word barbaros, which at first meant simply a person who spoke a language the ancient Greeks could not understand. But soon the word also came to mean non-Greek or foreigner. Later, the Romans applied the Latin word barbarus to such peoples as the Goths, Vandals, and Huns, who lived outside the Roman Empire. Many of these “barbarians” entered the empire either peacefully or by force during the A.D. 300’s and 400’s, and contributed to its destruction.
When the Greeks began to colonize areas around the Mediterranean Sea about 750 B.C., they noticed cultural differences between themselves and other peoples. The Greeks considered their civilization superior to all others. Thus, they began to use the word barbarian in a disrespectful sense. The Greeks even considered the Egyptians and Persians cultural barbarians, because they did not cultivate the Greek ideals of civilized living. However, the Egyptian and Persian civilizations were older and in some ways more sophisticated than the Greek civilization.
After Alexander the Great conquered the Middle East (336-323 B.C.), the Greeks changed their attitudes toward foreigners. Many Middle Easterners adopted the Greek language, ideals, and ways of life. The label barbarian became restricted to those foreigners who had not absorbed Greek education or culture. This meaning was also used by the Romans, who adapted Greek culture and carried it throughout their empire.
Today, the term barbarian is often used as an insult to describe a people or culture as crude and uncivilized.
