Race and Ethnicity in the Ancient Mediterranean

Were the Greeks and the Romans racist? How were identities constructed in the ancient Mediterranean world? Did the concepts of “race” and “ethnicity” even exist in antiquity? We will explore these questions through the art, archaeology, and literature of the ancient Mediterranean from Homeric times to the end of the Roman Empire. We will also analyze how the perceptions of race and ethnicity in antiquity have shaped conceptions of identity in more modern eras, especially how they contributed to and authorized violent societal structures, such as slavery, colonization, imperialism, and nationalism.