Who Were the Barbarians? barbarians為誰？

歐文·賈魯斯　王驍

Barbarians—a word that today often refers to uncivilized people or evil people and their evil deeds—originated in ancient Greece， and it initially only referred to people who were from out of town or did not speak Greek.

Today， the meaning of the word is far removed from its original Greek roots. A poignant example comes from a 2012 speech given by then U.S. President Barack Obama in New York City. “When a little boy is kidnapped， turned into a child soldier， forced to kill or be killed—thats slavery. When a little girl is sold by her impoverished family—girls my daughters age—runs away from home， or is lured by the false promises of a better life， and then imprisoned in a brothel and tortured if she resists—thats slavery. It is barbaric， and it is evil， and it has no place in a civilized world，” he said.

When Obama used the term “barbaric，” he was not referring to people from outside New York City or non-Greek-speaking people but rather to acts of evil in general. Indeed， the meaning of the word barbarian has changed dramatically over time and， in fact， the word did not always have a negative meaning for everyone.

Greek origins

The word “barbarian” is derived from the ancient Greek word β?ρβ?ρο? which was used 3，200 years ago when a civilization that modern-day scholars called “Mycenaean” ruled much of Greece， writes Juan Luis Garcia Alonso， a Classics professor at the University of Salamanca， in a paper published in the book “Identity（ies）： A multicultural and multidisciplinary approach”.

The word was written on clay tablets found at Pylos， a large Mycenaean city on the Greek mainland. “In the Pylos clay tablet collection we do find the word simply applied， apparently， to people from out of town，” wrote Alonso.

A number of scholars have argued that the “bar-bar” in the word “barbarian” may be an attempt to imitate a stammering voice which， presumably， some non-Greek speakers might sound like to someone who speaks Greek.

By “the archaic period1 [2，700 years ago] there is no doubt that one of the major meanings of the word was linguistic： the Barbarians were those who did not speak Greek，” writes Konstantinos Vlassopoulos， a professor of history and archaeology at the University of Crete， in his book “Greeks and the Barbarians”.

Non-Greek speaking people could be friendly or hostile. The Persians who invaded Greece were referred to as “barbarians” in Herodotus （lived fifth century B.C.） description of their battle against a Spartan led force at Thermopylae.

Vlassopoulos notes that the ancient Greeks sometimes used the word in a confusing and contradictory fashion. One problem they had is that there was no agreement among the ancient Greeks as to who spoke Greek and who didnt， at least up until around the time of Alexander the Great. There “existed a variety of local and regional dialects， which were mutually comprehensible to a larger or smaller degree，” writes Vlassopoulos.

Barbarians and Rome

The meaning of the word “barbarian” would change somewhat when Romans （many of whom did not speak Greek） used the word to refer to all foreigners， especially the wide variety of people who were encroaching on their borders.

These barbarians were never united. Some pillaged the Roman Empire while others became its allies. There were numerous groups， and their allegiances changed over time.

“Rome dealt actively with， among others， Goths， Vandals， Herules， Sueves， Saxons， Gepids， as well as Sarmatians， Alans， Huns， Avars， Picts， Carpi and Isaurians，” writes Walter Goffart， a senior research scholar and lecturer at Yale University， in his book “Barbarian Tides： The Migration Age and the Later Roman Empire”.

The most famous “barbarian” from this period was， arguably， Attila the Hun. He ruled a vast empire that controlled other barbarian groups. At the start of his rule he allied himself with the Romans against the Burgundians （another “barbarian” group）. Then， later on， he turned against the Romans and marched against them in France. The Romans then allied themselves with the Visigoths （also “barbarians”） and defeated Attila.

The word “barbarian” did not have a negative meaning for everyone in the Roman Empire. Around A.D. 440， the Christian priest Salvian wrote that “almost all barbarians， at least those who are of one race and kin， love each other， while the Romans persecute each other.” He noted that many poor Romans turned to the “barbarians” for help. “They doubtless seek Roman humanity among the barbarians， because they cannot bear barbarian inhumanity among the Romans.”

Who is a barbarian？

Among modern-day scholars， and among the general public， the definition of barbarian gets even more tangled and confusing.

“If there is one characteristic that civilizations have in common， it is their ideological need to defend themselves not just against their own enemies， but against the enemies of civilizations， the ‘barbarians，” writes Nicola Di Cosmo， of the Institute for Advanced Study， in his book “Ancient China and Its Enemies： The Rise of Nomadic Powers in East Asian History”. “This opposition between civilization and its enemies can be recognized as one of the great ongoing themes that we encounter in world history.”

For instance the Chinese used terms that are sometimes translated into English as “barbarian” to describe people who they fought against such as the Yi.

Some people consider the Vikings to be “barbarians，” even though they had advanced sailing techniques that allowed them to colonize Iceland and sail to the New World.

Today， some people even consider medical treatments that were used in ancient times as “barbaric” even though they are still used today.

To the ancient Greeks， a barbarian was someone from out of town or did not speak Greek， regardless of whether that person had good or bad intentions. The term has changed throughout time to a point where the ancient Greeks probably wouldnt recognize it. Presidential speechwriters， take note.

barbarians——一個現今常指未開化之人或邪惡之人及其惡行的詞——起源于古希臘，它原本僅指來自城外或不講希臘語的人。

如今，這個詞的含義已經與其原本的希臘詞根相去甚遠。一個令人心酸的例子就出自時任美國總統的奧巴馬于2012年在紐約市發表的演講，他說：“當一個小男孩被劫持，變為童軍，被逼殺人或者被殺——那就是奴役。當一個小女孩——和我女兒一般大的女孩——被她貧窮的家庭賣掉從而離家出走，或因為被美好生活的虛假許諾所引誘，然后被囚禁在妓院，稍有反抗就飽受折磨——那就是奴役。這是野蠻的，是邪惡的，這在文明的世界中無處容身。”

當奧巴馬用barbaric這一詞時，他并非指那些來自紐約市外的人或非希臘語使用者，而是泛指邪惡的行徑。確實，barbarian這一詞的意義隨時間推移發生了極大的變化，而且事實上，這個詞并非對所有人都是貶義的。

希臘詞源

薩拉曼卡大學古典學教授胡安·路易斯·加西亞·阿隆索在一篇刊于《身份：多文化與多學科研究》的論文中寫道，barbarian一詞源于3200年前的古希臘語β?ρβ?ρο?，而彼時的希臘大部分正處在被當代學者稱之為“邁錫尼”的文明統治之下。

這個詞刻在泥版上，發現于地處希臘大陸的邁錫尼大型城市皮洛斯。阿隆索寫道：“在皮洛斯的泥版群中，我們確實發現這個詞顯然僅指那些來自城外的人。”

許多學者認為，barbarian一詞中的bar-bar可能是試圖模仿打磕巴，或許在說希臘語的人聽來，這正像是某些非希臘語使用者的說話方式。

克里特大學的歷史和考古教授康斯坦丁諾斯·弗拉索普洛斯在其著作Greeks and the Barbarians中說，截至“古風時代（2700年前），這個詞的主要含義之一無疑是語言學上的：barbarians指那些不講希臘語的人”。

非希臘語的使用者可為友亦可為敵。希羅多德（生活于公元前5世紀）就把入侵希臘并在溫泉關與一支斯巴達人麾下的軍隊交戰的波斯人稱為barbarians。

弗拉索普洛斯注意到古希臘人在這個詞的用法上有時讓人迷惑且自相矛盾。問題之一是哪些人講希臘語而哪些人不講，這在古希臘人中并未達成一致，這種情況至少持續到亞歷山大大帝時代前后。他寫道，“多種多樣的地方方言或多或少是能夠互相理解的”。

barbarians與羅馬

當羅馬人（其中許多不講希臘語）用barbarian指代所有外國人，尤其那些蠶食他們邊境的各色人等時，這個詞的含義就稍稍起了變化。

這些barbarians從未聯合到一起。對羅馬帝國來說，一些是劫掠者而其余則是盟友。他們的群體數量眾多，忠誠也隨著時間變化。

耶魯大學高級研究員和講師沃爾特·戈法特在其著作Barbarian Tides： The Migration Age and the Later Roman Empire寫道，“其中與羅馬積極往來的有哥特人、汪達爾人、赫魯利人、蘇維匯人、撒克遜人、格皮德人以及薩爾馬特人、阿蘭人、匈奴、阿瓦爾人、皮克特人、卡皮人和伊蘇里亞人”。

此時期的barbarian當中，最負盛名的可說是匈奴王阿提拉。他統領著一片偌大的帝國，其下管轄著多支barbarian部族。在統治伊始，他與羅馬人結盟對抗勃艮第人（另一支barbarian）。隨后，他將矛頭轉向羅馬人并在法國向其進軍。而羅馬人后來與西哥特人（同屬barbarian）結盟打敗了阿提拉。

barbarian一詞在羅馬帝國時代并非對每個人都是貶義。公元440年左右，基督教教士薩爾維安寫道“幾乎所有的barbarians，至少那些同族同脈的都相親相愛，而羅馬人卻相互迫害”。他指出許多貧窮的羅馬人轉而向barbarians求助。“他們無疑在那些人當中尋求羅馬式的人性，因為他們無法容忍羅馬人如那些人一樣人性泯滅。”

barbarian為誰？

barbarian的定義在當代學者和普羅大眾當中甚至變得更加復雜和令人困惑。

高等研究院的尼古拉·迪科斯莫在其著作《古中國及其敵人：東亞歷史中游牧勢力的崛起》中寫道，“如果各文明擁有一個共同的特點，那就是它們需要在意識形態上保衛自己，不僅抵御它們自身的敵人，更是抵御文明的敵人，即那些barbarians”。他還說：“這種文明與其敵人之間的對立，可以看作我們在世界歷史中遇到的最為持久的主題之一。”

比如，中國人對其敵人的稱呼“夷”，有時可以英譯成barbarian（野蠻人）。

即便維京人憑借先進的航行技術殖民了冰島并駛到了“新世界”，他們仍被一些人看作barbarians。

雖然古時使用的治療手段今天仍舊在用，但仍有人將這些手段視為barbaric（野蠻的）。

對古希臘人而言，無論其意圖好壞，barbarian指來自城外或不講希臘語的人。歲月流逝，這個詞的變化之大可能連古希臘人都認不出來了。為總統撰寫演講稿的人，要當心了！

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）