Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity was a period of time from the beginning of ancient Greek civilization (8th century BCE) to approximately the fall of the Western Roman Empire (5th century CE), with some scholars considering it to overlap with early Middle Ages. It is also known as the Greco-Roman world, since the Greek and Roman civilizations were overlapping. Geographically, its maximum extent was the largest reach of the Roman Empire in 117 CE.
==Instruction==
Instruction in classical antiquity usually includes ancient Greek and Latin language lessons, and readings in history and philosophy (Socrates and Plato, especially). The instruction in language has long been in decline, when it was once common (in the Western world). Arguments about the impracticalness of such instruction was already taking place in the United States in 1828.Classical Education in America by Daniel Walker Howe (Spring 2011) The Wilson Quarterly. Since the decline of Latin and Greek instruction, at least one far-right journalist, Joseph Sobran who wrote for the National Review, associated such teaching with racist nostalgia.A Champion for Classics… and Racism by Curtis Dozier (December 13, 2019) Pharos.The Death of a 'Holocaust Skeptic' by Jeffrey Goldberg (October 12, 2010) The Atlantic.
There are certainly good reasons for studying classical antiquity (e.g., understanding history, government or philosophy), but readings of the past can either be a lens for understanding the present or a cudgel for controlling it. Why else would despots resort to book burnings?
==Misrepresentation==
Distorting history for one's own political purposes is nothing new. The alt-right's appropriation is just the latest incarnation. Following European intellectuals in the 19th and earlier centuries.Mahindra Lecture: Classical Athens and Contemporary White Ethnonationalism by Curtis Dozier (May 19, 2021) Pharos.Curtis Dozier Mahindra Lecture: Classical Athens and Contemporary White Ethnonationalism (video) (May 14, 2021) Department of the Classics, Harvard University. Nazi Germany, an antecedent for at least some of the alt-right, misrepresented antiquity in at least three ways:
#Referring to itself as "The Third Reich", with the implication that the Holy Roman Empire and the German Empire were the first and second. 'Holy Roman Empire' itself referred back to the Roman Empire, though it was not a direct descendant.
#The was itself an adaptation of the The Roman salute itself though has no clear origins, as it is never described in Roman literature or shown in Roman art. The Roman Salute: Cinema, History, Ideology by Martin M. Winkler (2009)Ohio State University Press. ISBN 0814208649.
#The Nazis adored and promoted neoclassical architecture and classical forms in general. Classical sculptures inspired by forms from pagan times were seen as useful remedy for the lethargy of Christianity.The Nationalization of the Masses: Political Symbolism and Mass Movements in Germany from the Napoleonic Wars and through the Third Reich by George Mosse (1975) Plume. ISBN 0452004640. Hitler admired the Colosseum and hated Gothic architecture, seeing it as too old-fashioned for contemporary Germany, while Albert Speer, a principal architect for Nazi Germany, found a kindred spirit in French neoclassical architect and his monumental and austere designs.
File:Statue-Augustus.jpg|A Roman salute: Emperor Augustus depicted in the 1st century CE
File:062 Conrad Cichorius, Die Reliefs der Traianssäule, Tafel LXII.jpg|A diversity of Roman salutes depicted in 113CE
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 147-0510, Berlin, Lustgarten, Kundgebung der HJ.jpg|The uniformity of the Nazi salute in 1933
File:Nazi detector.png|Neo-Nazi detector
File:Elon Musk's Nazi salute.png|One of Elon Musk's two or three such salutes on January 20, 2025Elon Musk 'makes Nazi salute' three times during inauguration speech by Emily Hodgkin (Jan 20 2025) Irish Star.Did Elon Musk Sieg Heil at Trump's inauguration? Musk was seen making the gesture twice on live television. by Mathilda Heller (January 20, 2025 22:29; Updated: January 21, 2025 21:18) The Jerusalem Post.
===Whiteness===
The concept of whiteness likely arose with the development of the transatlantic slave trade in the 17th century, and was justified with the theory of racialism starting in the 18th century.The invention of whiteness: the long history of a dangerous idea: Before the 17th century, people did not think of themselves as belonging to something called the white race. But once the idea was invented, it quickly began to reshape the modern world by Robert P. Baird (20 Apr 2021 01.00 EDT) The Guardian. Since the 18th century, it has often been presumed that the classical world was white, but Romans in fact frequently incorporated other ethnic groups as Roman citizens, including Africans and Judeans. The Roman emperor was African born, in what is now Libya, and his paternal ancestors were Palestinians.
An archaeological analysis looked at the personal names associated with place of origin of the Roman port city of Ostia Antica population in what is now central Italy. It found that one of the largest ethnic groups included people from North Africa in the provinces of Numidia and Mauretania."The Population of Ostia: Composition and Working Activities, an Analysis of Inscriptions" by Antonio Licordari (2020) In: Life and Death in a Multicultural Harbour City: Ostia Antica From the Republic Through Late Antiquity, edited by Arja Karivieri. Institutum Romanum Finlandiae, pages 165-171.
Throughout later history, the era has often been misrepresented. For example, the whiteness of ancient marble sculptures were fetishized since the 18th century with the rise of racialism,He Wants to Save Classics From Whiteness. Can the Field Survive? Dan-el Padilla Peralta thinks classicists should knock ancient Greece and Rome off their pedestal — even if that means destroying their discipline. by Rachel Poser (Feb. 2, 2021) The New York Times. but it is now known that the statues were originally painted in a variety of colors.Why We Need to Start Seeing the Classical World in Color: The equation of white marble with beauty is not an inherent truth of the universe; it's a dangerous construct that continues to influence white supremacist ideas today. by Sarah E. Bond (June 7, 2017) Hyperallergic. The fetishization has continued to influence modern-day white supremacists. Some art critics have said that the colors likely to have been used on ancient Greek and Roman statues could be considered evidence of vulgar taste.What if the ancient Greeks and Romans actually had terrible taste? Antiquities reproduced in vivid color, now on view in ‘Chroma’ exhibition at the Met, may look garish to modern eyes by Philip Kennicott (August 11, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT) The Washington Post.The Met’s New Show Dispels the Myth of White Greek Sculpture in a Blaze of Color by Tessa Solomon (July 25, 2022 1:17pm) ARTnews.
====United States====
In the US, the retrojection of whiteness into the classical period can be traced to Thomas Jefferson's use of neoclassical architecture in his home town of Charlottesville.Power Structures: White Columns, White Marble, White Supremacy by Lyra D. Monteiro (Oct 27, 2020) Medium. The idea of 'whiteness' was unknown in the classical era. Jefferson's slave owning, and the neoclassical architecture in Charlottesville were the primary reasons that Richard Spencer chose the city for the Unite the Right rally, not the threatened Robert E. Lee statue. Jefferson was not simply a benign admirer of classical architecture, but in his book Notes on the State of Virginia he used the slavery that existed in the classical era as a justification for his own slave owning.Notes on the state of Virginia by Thomas Jefferson (1832) Lilly and Wait.
In February 2020, a draft Presidential Executive Order titled "Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again" and written by the National Civic Art Society was leaked that promoted neoclassical designs for new government buildings.Trump’s Beautiful Proposal for Federal Architecture: The classicists hope to address a problem that the architecture establishment does not see as a problem. by Andrew Ferguson (February 21, 2020) The Atlantic.Make federal buildings ‘beautiful again?’ Trump declares war on modern architecture (Feb 5, 2020, 7:07pm CST) Chicago Sun-Times. The draft was in part a backlash against modern art and architecture but primarily an attack on multiculturalism.
The Apollo Belvedere statue of the Greek god Apollo was rediscovered in the 15th century during the Renaissance. Beginning in the 18th century, the statue began to be championed as an aesthetic ideal by early racialists such as Pieter Camper. Camper used anthropometry to rationalize his aesthetic preferences for facial angle, basically the post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy. Apollo Belvedere was, like other classical statues, esteemed for its whiteness, but it is not known whether it was originally painted like other such statues. In 2016, before the Unite the Right rally that they cosponsored, Identity Evropa began a poster campaign co-opting Apollo Belvedere and other classical statues.The New White Nationalism’s Sloppy Use of Art History, Decoded: Identity Evropa has been terrorizing campuses across the country. by Ben Davis (March 7, 2017) Artnet.Classics and the Alt-Right: Historicizing Visual Rhetorics of White Supremacy by Heidi Morse (February 15, 2018) Learn Speak Act, University of Michigan.
====United Kingdom====
In 2018, the BBC released an 8-part mini-series titled Troy: Fall of a City about the Trojan War. The series cast several British actors of African descent, including key roles for David Gyasi as Achilles and Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Zeus.Troy: Fall of a City (2018–): Full Cast & Crew IMDb. This casting created a substantial amount of criticism by racists.Racist reaction to David Gyasi playing Achilles in BBC/Netflix “Troy” Miniseries by Curtis Dozier (January 11, 2018) Pharos.Further racist backlash against “Black Achilles” by Curtis Dozier (April 6, 2018) Pharos. The racists in question used the cover of what they claimed was historical inaccuracy, but there are several problems with this claim:No, the BBC is not ‘blackwashing’ Troy: Fall of a City: Why has the casting of David Gyasi and Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Achilles and Zeus proved so controversial? by Thomas Ling (24 February 2018) RadioTimes.Black Achilles: The Greeks didn’t have modern ideas of race. Did they see themselves as white, black – or as something else altogether? by Tim Whitmarsh (9 May 2018) Aeon.
*There was no concept of black and white races in ancient times. Additionally, ancient Greeks had a range of skin tones.
*Homer's Illiad did not describe Achilles as 'white', the actual term used was 'xanthē' or 'xanthos' (which could mean ‘brown’, ‘ruddy’, ‘yellow’ or ‘golden’), and Greek color terminology does not map well into modern English color terminology.Scholars Respond to Racist Backlash against Black Achilles, Part 2: What did Achilles look like? by Curtis Dozier (May 18, 2018) Pharos.
*Odysseus is described in one translation of Homer's Odyssey as ‘black-skinned and woolly-haired’, yet there were no known complaints about white English actor Joseph Mawle playing Odysseus in the series.
*There is no contemporaneous description of the Trojan War, thus all accounts are mythological. Homer's account was an amalgamation of different versions.
*Sophocles portrayed Zeus as 'black' in his play Inachus, using the term aithos, which is believed to be the root of the word Ethiopia.Scholars Respond to Racist Backlash against Black Achilles, Part 1: Ancient Greek Attitudes toward Africans by Curtis Dozier (May 11, 2018) Pharos.
*It is likely the case that ancient Greeks did not exclude other ethnic groups, including North Africans, from being considered Greek.
===Immigration===
Rather than the genetically homogenous population in ancient Rome that modern-day white supremacists fantasize,The Classical Roots of White Supremacy: A whitewashed history of the ancient world lays the foundation for white supremacy across the curriculum. by Dani Bostick (Spring 2021) Learning for Justice, Southern Poverty Law Center. the city of Rome and its vicinity had a flux of genetically diverse populations throughout its history, including high levels of ancestry from the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East during the Imperial Roman era.Ancient Rome: A genetic crossroads of Europe and the Mediterranean by Margaret L. Antonio et al. (2019) Science 366(6466): 708-714. doi:10.1126/science.aay682. The genetic diversity of the Italian peninsula during the Imperial era, was confirmed for southern Italy from the DNA of people killed during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius; this analysis concluded that there were recent immigrants from the Eastern Mediterranean or North Africa.Ancient DNA challenges prevailing interpretations of the Pompeii plaster casts by Elena Pilli et al. (November 07, 2024) Current Biology doi:10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.007.Science is revealing the true stories of Pompeii’s victims beneath the ash: Analysis of ancient DNA rewrites what we know about the relationships between the people buried there in 79 A.D. by Carolyn Y. Johnson (November 7, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. EST) The Washington Post.
===Gender and sexuality===
The preservation of gender inequality often relies on appeals to the good old days, such as Kinder, Küche, Kirche. The MRA website A Voice for Men has specifically referenced ancient and medieval laws in its argumentation,Limit to gender justice: lessons of ancient & medieval sumptuary laws by Douglas Galbi (November 21, 2021) A Voice for Men (archived from November 21, 2021). yet the reality of such appeals is not as clear as they would like to represent. Plato was the first known person to put feminist arguments in writing in his Republic Book 5 (c. 375 BCE).Plato's "Republic" and Feminism by Julia Annas (1976) Philosophy 51(197):307-321.
Scholars generally agree that Roman women had more agency and freedom than in Greece. A portrait of Terentius Neo and his wife (c. 50–79 CE) was excavated in the ruins of their house in Pompeii. Terentius Neo, a middle class baker, is portrayed as a Roman citizen who was involved in public life (indicated by the toga and rotulus in his hand). His wife holds a wax tablet and stylus, indicating her equal status, her role in the operation of the family's business, and that she is educated and literate.Art in the Lives of Ordinary Romans: Visual Representation and Non-Elite Viewers in Italy, 100 B.C.-A.D. 315 by John R Clarke (2003) University of California Press. ISBN 9780520248151.
According to historian Lewis Webb,How often do men think about ancient Rome? Quite frequently, it seems. by Leo Sands (September 14, 2023) The Washington Post.
And according to historian Hannah Cornwell, noting that the Roman Empire had some female gladiators,
Cornwell has also noted that there has been a longstanding reliance on "elite, masculine" written sources about the Roman Empire, creating a selection bias for interpreting the Empire.
One notable similarity between the modern-day Manosphere and elite males in the Roman Empire of around the 1st and 2nd centuries CE is the great fear of the emancipation of women with regard to money, freedom of movement and sex.
Christian Reconstructionist Pete Hegseth, the totally unqualifiedI vetted Pete Hegseth for Team Trump in 2016. He wasn't qualified then — and still isn't. by Justin M. Higgins (November 16, 2024 at 7:59 AM PST) MSNBC via Yahoo!News.Duckworth on MSNBC: It's Insane Trump Wants Pete Hegseth to Lead the Department of Defense (Nov 21, 2024) Senator Tammy Duckworth on MSNBC, YouTube. Trump nominee for Secretary of Defense in 2024 stated, "I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. It hasn’t made us more effective. Hasn’t made us more lethal. Has made fighting more complicated." by Lolita C. Baldor (10:45 AM PST, November 18, 2024) Associated Press.The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free by Pete Hegseth (2024) Broadside Books. ISBN 0063389428. But, it incorrect for Hegseth to imply that women had not fought in combat until very recently. Herodotus, the ancient Greek historian, wrote that Scythian warriors were the greatest of their time, and archaeological findings have shown that about 20% of Scythian warriors were women.The Crusade against America: Handmaid Fails 3/3 by Timothy Snyder (Nov 22, 2024) Thinking about… on Substack.Scythian Women by Patrick Scott Smith (30 June 2021) World History Encyclopedia.
===Praetorian Guard===
The Praetorian Guard were a Roman Army and intelligence gathering unit intended to protect Roman emperors. The discordantly-named 1st Amendment Praetorian is a militia group associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory and Michael Flynn.The 1st Amendment Praetorian group has become an on-call security and intelligence team for the most extreme and esoteric of Trumpists. by William Bredderman & Will Sommer (Updated Jun. 11, 2021 3:48AM ET / Published Jun. 10, 2021 4:53AM ET) The Daily Beast. 1st Amendment Praetorian may also have been associated Trump's 2021 coup attempt.House Jan. 6 committee issues subpoenas to Proud Boys, Oath Keepers by Jacqueline Aleman (November 23, 2021). This militia calling themselves "Praetorian" makes some perverted sense insofar as QAnoners having the "God Emperor Trump" delusion.God Emperor Trump Know Your Meme. However, while Roman citizens did have rights, they did not overlap at all with the First Amendment (freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition).
===Roman wreath===
The laurel wreath was a symbol of military triumph used in ancient Rome.The Proud Boys and Greco-Roman Masculinity by Curtis Dozier (October 1, 2020) Pharos. The Proud Boys initially adopted the Fred Perry polo shirt as their official uniform, likely in part because the wreath on the shirt resembled the Roman wreath. The Fred Perry clothing label logo had been based upon the Wimbleton Tennis Championships logo and not directly based upon the Roman wreath. After the Fred Perry company found out about the Proud Boys co-opatation of their logo, they withdrew the polo shirt from production.Fred Perry withdraws polo shirt adopted by far-right Proud Boys: Company distances itself from US fascist group as it halts sales of garment in North America by Priya Elan (28 Sep 2020 10.31 EDT) The Guardian. The Proud Boys continued to use the wreath on their own clothing brand(s).Did the Proud Boys’ flag change? Its meaning and symbols explained by Samantha McGarry (October 1, 2020) The Focus.
File:Vexilloid of the Roman Empire.svg|Roman wreath with eagle and "SPQR"
File:Brutus by casca.jpg|Roman coin with Brutus and laurel wreath, 42 BCE 
File:Proud Boys in Pittsboro (2019 Oct) - 01.jpg|2019 proud Boys rally with Fred Perry shirt on the man on the left
File:Proud Boys PB and Wreath Logo.jpg|Proud Boys logo including wreath
File:Proud Boys in Raleigh (2020 Nov) (50658842286).jpg|Fred Perry shirt (left, black) and Proud Boys sweatshirt (center, yellow)
===Latin abuse===
The statement "Victrix causa deis placuit sed victa Catoni." appears on the base of the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. The statement originally appeared in Lucan's epic poem from 61 CE ("On the Civil War") about the Roman civil war of 48 BCE between Julius Caesar and the forces of the Roman Senate. The statement translates literally as, "The victorious cause pleased the gods, but Cato was conquered." but has been translated as "The victorious cause pleased the gods, but the conquered one [pleased] Cato."Inscriptions on Arlington Confederate Monument by Mrs. Cabell Smith (1920) Confederate Veteran 20:123 'Conquered' has also been translated as losing side or losing cause in direct reference to the Confederate Memorial.Address delivered on 6 June 1999 at Arlington National Cemetery by Fr. Alister C. Anderson, SCV Chaplain-in-Chief Arlington National Cemetery. Cato here refers here to who opposed corruption and Julius Caesar's monarchialism. In contrast to Lucan's intent, referring to this Latin phrase in the context of the Confederate States of America erroneously implies that the primary cause of the American Civil War was for states' rights (republicanism in the American sense rather than the Roman sense) rather than preservation of slavery (the Lost Cause of the South).
Sic semper tyrannis, a Latin phrase meaning "always to tyrants", was a favorite of the Oklahoma City Federal building bomber Timothy McVeigh. He even was wearing the shirt for his mugshot that quoted John Wilkes Booth using it after assassinating Abraham Lincoln.Timothy James McVeigh Imago (archived from 15 Apr 2022 15:40:31 UTC). Both men violently tried to subvert democracy, the opposite of the meaning of the phrase, that dictators should have bad outcomes.
==Name co-optation==
Several names from antiquity have been co-opted as pseudonyms within the alt-right:Onomasticon of Classical Pseudonyms and Avatars (May 27th, 2020) Pharos.How Classics Made its Way into the “Freedom Convoy” (April 15, 2022) Pharos.“Gladiator” calls for New Roman Legion to save “the West” (October 26, 2018) Pharos.
==Gallery==
File:Races and skulls.png|Apollo Belvedere, as used in 1854 racialist book Types of MankindTypes of Mankind: or, Ethnological researches, based upon the ancient monuments, paintings, sculptures, and crania of races, and upon their natural, geographical, philological and Biblical history by Josiah C Nott & George R Gliddon (1854) Lippincott, Grambo.
File:Apollo Belvedere, Identity Evropa.png| co-opted by Identity Evropa and emphasizing the facial angle
File:Pompei - Sappho - MAN.jpg|Another portrait of an educated and literate woman in Pompeii
File:George Washington Greenough statue.jpg|Horatio Greenough's statue of George Washington (1840), made in the classical style, managed to scandalize people with its bare areolae.The first statue removed from the Capitol: George Washington in a toga by Ronald G. Shafer (January 22, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. EST) Archived from The Washington Post.
==See also==
*Alt-right glossary:
**Molon labe — misappropriation of the Battle of Thermopylai (480 BCE)
**Noticer — misappropriation of Roman senator Cicero
**SPQR — originally referred to semi-democratic/republican Roman Empire. It has been widely used in Europe, but it was also appropriated by Mussolini and later fascists
*Biblical archaeology — attempts to prove that the Bible is factual using archaeological techniques
*Classical mythology
*Images of Jesus
*Middle Ages#Back to the future
*Neoreactionary movement — particularly with regard to Boethius
==External links==
*Gods in Color: Polychromy in Antiquity
*Pharos — "a website where classical scholars, students, and the public more broadly, can learn about appropriations of Greco-Roman antiquity by hate groups"
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Alt-right
Category:Ancient history
Category:Men's rights movement
Category:Nationalist pseudohistory
Category:Racialism