A Crisis in the Multiethnic Society of Ancient Alexandria (66 A.D.)

Carla Salvaterra (Università di Bologna)

Racial Discrimination and Ethnicity in European History: The Culture and Politics of Discrimination, edited by G. Halfdanarson (Edizioni Plus, 2001)

Abstract

Ancient societies, in particular the urban societies of the Hellenistic-Roman Mediterranean, constitute particularly significant observation posts for examining the themes of tolerance and intolerance, racial discrimination, and ethnic identity. The Hellenistic world and the Roman Empire show, on both the local and the central levels, the characteristics of a multicultural society, allowing us to study the relations between ethnic groups in the microcosm of a city, on a regional or even global scale, considering the entire ecumene then known.

In this specific case I have chosen to examine the deterioration of the delicate equilibrium which allowed peaceful coexistence between different ethnic groups in a single city. Nevertheless, we must not forget that Alexandria was one of the metropolises of antiquity, and the events described constitute a particularly significant moment in ancient history, the eve of the great war that the Romans waged against the Jews in Palestine and which forced the Jewish people to leave their country in what is known as the Diaspora.

I think that these particular historical coordinates can allow us to reflect on questions of method: on the difficulties that we encounter in using a specific case or series of events in ancient history to formulate answers to more general questions, such as the role of politics in determining ethnic hatred, the role of irrational elements, of cultural prejudices and of social differences in giving rise to episodes of intolerance and clashes between ethnic components of a single urban society.

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