William
Shakespeare is one of the most famous authors of all time. 2016 marked
the 400th anniversary of his death, his words have inspired and moved
people from around the globe for centuries.How
much do we know about Shakespeare’s cultural background and influences
and why his works have endured? .This course lastr 13 weeks and costs
£65. For more details ng 07592330467 or e mail squabs@hotmail.co.uk
Mind, Brains amd Machines January 10 2018 10 am.
The
problem of intelligence – how the brain produces intelligent behavior
and how we may be able to replicate intelligence in machines – is
arguably the greatest problem in science and technology. To solve it we
will need to understand how human intelligence emerges from computation
in neural circuits, with rigor sufficient to reproduce similar
intelligent behavior in machines. Success in this endeavor ultimately
will enable us to understand ourselves better, to produce smarter
machines, and perhaps even to make ourselves smarter. Today’s AI
technologies, such as Watson and Siri, are impressive, but their domain
specificity and reliance on vast numbers of labeled examples are obvious
limitations; few view this as brain-like or human intelligence. The
synergistic combination of cognitive science, neurobiology, engineering,
mathematics, and computer science holds the promise to build much more
robust and sophisticated algorithms implemented in intelligent machines.
. The couyrse runs for 13 weeks and costs £65. for more information
please ring 07592330467 or e mail squabs'hotmail.co.uk
Thursday January 11 2018 10 am St Augustine Author and Philosopher
St. Augustine's Confessions , written in the 4th century C.E., the Confessions is
an opportunity to explore, in one book, questions that have been
addressed in many books—by the likes of Plato, Cicero, Freud, and
Einstein—for more than a millennium. How
should parents raise children, and how should schools educate children?
Why are we attracted to things that are forbidden, and how do we
develop addictions? What is time? What is memory and what can it tell
us? How can we understand God, or the nature of evil? How should we
interpret scripture? What is true friendship? How should we deal with
the death of a loved one? Augustine addresses each of these issues, and
many more, in a way that few thinkers have been able to equal.
The Confessions has
had a staggering influence on Western civilization. It provided the
framework through which the Judeo-Christian world accepted the thinking
of Plato and other classical pagan philosophers. It served as the
blueprint for Dante's Divine Comedy and inspired Martin Luther.
This course is designed to enable you to understand the Confessions as
Augustine intended. In the early lectures, your professors cover such
necessary background information as Roman history and Christian
controversies during Augustine's time, and look at such other works by
Augustine as City of Godand Teaching Christianity.
An added benefit of the course is that it covers all 13 books of the Confessions:
the nine in which Augustine narrates the story of his life leading to
his Christian conversion, and the four in which he meditates on time,
memory, and scripture interpretation.
How deep does the Fascist lie within us all, how deep does the blame
culture continue? How much do we blame the other? and turn our faces
away from what is before us, what we dare not look at. That is why
fascism is so hard to defeat. it lies within our Shadow , our own ID, in
the language we use in the projections and displacements we experience
in our attitudes to the ones we not know or even wish to know.
In the last few weeks I have seen Fascism's shadow in Neath. in
Swansea, on Facebook in newspapers, in the sneers on people's face. In
the outlook that accuses others of bullying, of others as inspiring the
attitudes taken, in the scapegoating that surrounds us. In the rounding
on individuals who think differently and it frightens me and alarms me
that so few see it. In obscene words written on pages, in the paranoid
delusions of those who are afraid and are striking out at others in a
vain attempt to hide what they feel, but will not say. Each generation
battles with Fascism in its own way. Let us hope we can defeat it again.
Another Pips.. of all things a PIPs appeal today. The client is no
polar: complex and troubled. The DWP gave them 0 points. Armed with the
Psychiatric reports, support workers reports, my records and support
letters from friends we will seek to gain justice. I really wonder what
it will take for the prejudice loaded judgements of the decision makers
"fuelled by a bonus" to explore and understand the everyday lives of
those who struggle to be independent. This is a 'vile' government
obsessed by Brexit and getting their country back while using the fear
of the immigrant and the other to divide and rule. The benefit issue and
social justice will only come when we except a universal citizen income
that is based on citizenship . The truth us that the poorest spend the
greater proportion of their income in the local community. This applies
wherever you come from irrespective if status, ethnicity or culture. A
refugee from Afghanistan has more in common with the poor and excluded
from here than they have in common with the prosperous right wing
libertarian idiots . The only issue is when they will become aware of
it. We are ruled by fear and we are divided from our natural allies.
It's time to wake up and see the lies of the Trump:s, Farage's and
others who control...wish me luck...we also need a Socialist government
.. a proper one after so long...
.Between a Christmas and New Year, between
tempoaralities , in the days that exist without names I wait at the bus
station for my client. I am well dressed I drink a takeaway cappuccino
and relax. All over the country people are waiting to attend appeals.
For them this is an anxious fearful moments. Their lives will be
dissected by a judge a doctor and a welfare officer. There will be a
clerk a representative of the DWP and the client and myself. Why
must this be held in a court? In a place of judgement? For me another
one of 100 appeals but like an undertaker I forget the human drama I
see at each one. I will go back after the appeal to my everyday life..i
have sufficient money but for the client who wins it will be
transformational out of fear into a recognition of their experience of
disability. There is one representative of the DWP I have seen at many
appeals. He never looks at the client or at me. I can tell how he feels,
his shabby suit and his apology of a beard says it all. These are the
stormtropopers of the Tory benefit reforms..the banality of the evil of
the free market prophets..who are just doing their job..for them this is
not political...they just do their job.. the excuse of all destroyers
of human hope and dignity that has existed since the world began.. be in
the inquisition.. or the DWP or the Gauleiters or informers of the
witch hunters they are only doing their job.. This is what the denial of
politics has led to..it began long ago in the 70s was nursed by
Thatcher..given birth by too by the midwifery of Blair Farage and Brown
was breast fed by Cameron and Osbourne. And brought to maturity by May
and Hammond but there is a sea change and the paradigm changes...and
there are still not enough of people like myself to fight back but
there are more each day...but i will do my best in the now..i would
rather be a rebel than a slave..
Update.
We won. The DWP man returned to his room ..no words spoken to me or my client, No bonuses for for capita here...just a ruined year for the client since February of this yearClient was given mobility and care at middle level. The client was asked the strangest question. How did she dye her hair? I really think that a legal system obssessed by definitions is agreat problem. It seems impossible to explain that absolute definitions cannot be applied to shifting complex disoders like that of bi polar. what does it take for a panel to understand that in a court room a client asked over and over to provide a precise description of their life will falter and wilter in the search for exact definitions. / The process of reductionism is a secondary process by which the client is devalued, to a basic set of decriptors. I am thinking of putting together a philosophy course for those with anally challenged minds......
Over the last few days and during my Christmas break i ventured into the realms of Instagram. its crawling with Aryan nationalists and Alr Right types. here is a guide for the left on confronting the Alt Right in 2018.
Far-right extremist planned 'race war' by making explosives
By Jordan DaviesBBC News
Media captionFar-right Wales: 'High risk' individuals concerns
"High risk" and dangerous
far-right extremists in Wales have been prevented from carrying out
violent attacks in the last three years, according to a Home Office
advisor.
A Newport man was preparing for a "race war" by making and testing explosives.
Nick Daines, who works with the UK Government's counter-terrorism Prevent programme, said Wales has a "unique landscape" for far right extremism.
But he said membership was still relatively small.
Welsh counter terror police said they devoted as much time to far-right extremism in Wales as Islamist extremism.
Nigel Bromage, co-founder of the violent neo-Nazi group Combat
18, said Wales had traditionally been seen as a "safe haven" for the
ultra-right, away from the authorities.
He now works to confront the far-right through his organisation, Small Steps.
He
said groups like the National Front had tried to hijack causes like the
miners strike in the 1980s to help spread their ideology.
"South
Wales was seen as a big area to not only go in and support the miners,
offering food and picket line support, but it was also very much about
once we were in that community we could open up and support other
things," he said.
Mr Bromage said the groups would not initially advocate violence, or Nazism as they knew people in Wales would reject that.
He said the tactics were a "slow burn", and he believes the same tactics are being used by the far-right in Wales today.
Image caption
Neo-Nazi group Combat 18 co-founder Nigel Bromage now tries to confront far-right extremism
His organisation is now beginning to hold sessions in Wales to educate people on the dangers of the far-right. Just over 7,600 people in England and Wales were referred to the UK government's Prevent programme in 2015-16 - about 5,000 them over concerns about Islamist extremism.
According to the Home Office figures - Wales accounted for just 2% of those referrals - 148 cases.
But of those Welsh cases - 22% were for concerns about far-right extremism.
Officers from The Welsh Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit said they investigate every Prevent referral carefully.
Experts
believe the high proportion of far-right referrals is a genuine
reflection of what is being seen in Wales, and not a consequence of the
low number of overall referrals.
Nick Daines, a Home Office
Prevent co-ordinator, works across Wales with people who are in danger
of - or have become radicalised.
He has 20 cases ongoing, and rarely speaks about his work.
Much of his role involves providing support and guidance in
matters that could be completely unrelated to extremism, such as
employment, housing or education.
He said isolated parts of the
South Wales valleys remained "strongholds" for the far-right,
contributing to Wales' "unique" far-right landscape.
He said the mindset of the people he works with was becoming more extreme.
"There are significant problems along the M4 corridor from Newport across to the furthest parts of West Wales," he said.
'Race war' preparations
"I
worked with a man in the Newport area that was acquiring operational
manuals for paramilitary groups and was creating explosives and
experimenting with those in a quarry.
"He was very racially
motivated and held a perception there was a coming race war and needed
to prepare for that kind of eventuality."
Mr Daines said there had "certainly has been" moments where he had helped stop violent acts being carried out in Wales.
He
believes one "high risk" individual from south Wales who had a
"propensity for violence" would have "acted on his views" - had the
authorities not intervened.
Image caption
Nick Daines helps tackle the issue of far-right radicalisation for the UK's Home Office Prevent programme
He said incidents where people prepare explosives or weaponry are "not as rare as you would think".
But
he said the membership of far-right groups is still relatively small in
Wales and that the public should not be worried or alarmed.
Senior
officers at The Welsh Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit said they
had particular concerns about one emerging group, called the System
Resistance Network.
Their posters were found in a student area of Cardiff this month - officers believe they are trying to attract young people.
Experts
on the far-right claim former members of the now banned group Nation
Action have switched to the System Resistance Network.
Their social media posts display Nazi iconography.
The System Resistance Network is not a banned group.
Zach
Davies, who was convicted of attempted murder after attacking a dentist
in a supermarket in Mold, claimed links to National Action.
Image caption
Intervention can be at a very early stage, says South Wales Police's Assistant Chief Constable Jon Drake
Senior Officers at The Welsh Extremism and Counter
Terrorism Unit said half their time was devoted to combating far right
extremism, as much as Islamist extremism.
Officers said the threat had never gone away, and urged people to contact them if they suspected someone was being radicalised.
Assistant
Chief Constable Jon Drake from South Wales Police said the Prevent
programme can help stop someone committing potentially criminal acts.
"This
is often work a long long way before there's any criminal offending, it
could just be someone needing some advice some guidance, the clue is in
the title - the prevention of harm".
"There
are many things that separate the alternative right from old-school
racist skinheads (to whom they are often idiotically compared), but
one thing stands out above all else: intelligence. Skinheads, by and
large, are low-information, low-IQ thugs driven by the thrill of
violence and tribal hatred. The alternative right are a much smarter
group of people — which perhaps suggests why the Left hates them so
much. They’re dangerously bright."
I
have seen the following terms used over and over again. The attempts to
control language is an important step in controlling people. Please
make yourself aware of the meaning, implications and discourse of the
alt right. These terms are also often used by unthinking right wingers.
its time to resist.....
The
general world view of the alt-right. But how can you identify
someone who considers themselves part of it? Like most groups,
the alt-right has its own code words and slang. Here are some terms
they use, and other hallmarks to look out for
Beta: Members
of the alt-right are obsessed with masculinity, manhood, gender
roles and the concept of "alpha" and "beta"
males. Alpha males are leaders, like Trump; beta males are
portrayed as weak and emasculated.
Crybaby,
whiny: Anyone
who disagrees with them or their preferred candidate, particularly
protesters and people who complain that the alt-right is embracing
racism and anti-Semitism.
Cuckservative,
cuck: The
term "cuckservative" originated in the alt-right. It's a
portmanteau of "conservative" and "cuckold" used
to describe Republicans who are perceived to be emasculated or
"selling out." Frequently shortened to "cuck,"
the term has come under scrutiny for its racist
implications.
Human
biodiversity: Despite
the fact that many say racism is at the heart of its platform,
the alt-right is very sensitive about being called racist. They use
the term“human
biodiversity” as
a more scientific-sounding way of referring to issues of race.
Libtard: The
alt-right revels in the rejection of "political correctness,"
so embracing an outdated term for a person with an intellectual
disability ("retard") serves the purpose of insulting
liberals.
Masculinist: A
word meant to embody the opposite of feminist, celebrating
“manliness” and the traditional “heroic” nature of men. To
the alt-right, "masculinist" principles are ones that serve
and advocate for men. Critics say they primarily reinforce antiquated
gender roles.
Multiculturalism (as
a derogatory term): A
major component of the alt-right platform is white supremacy and
nationalism. "Multiculturalism" is used as a negative
term for the blending of multiple cultures, as opposed to celebrating
the supposed superiority of Western European culture. . Often used as
shorthand for policies that benefit immigrants and people of color.
Neoreactionaries: Also
known as NRx and the "Dark Enlightenment." A group of
people who call for stripping away anything other than supposedly
rational thought, as opposed to a “feelings first” mentality.
They advocate for libertarianism, traditional gender roles and
neofascism.
Political
correctness: Anything
that challenges an alt-right person's right to say whatever they
want, whenever they want, in any way they want to say it. According
to the alt-right, political correctness is responsible for most of
society's ills, including feminism, Islamic terrorism and overly
liberal college campuses.
Snowflake: Short
for "special snowflake," a pejorative for an entitled
person. Most people protesting Trump are "snowflakes,"
according to the alt-right, as are anti-Trump celebrities and most
liberals.
SJW: Short
for "social justice warrior," this insult is mostly
reserved for young women who try to argue on behalf of liberal or
feminist ideas.
White
genocide: What
many alt-right members feel is the natural conclusion of liberalism
and pro-immigrant policies. The alt-right views just about anything
that benefits nonwhite people, particularly ones who aren't American
citizens, as a risk to whiteness and a step on the road to the
eradication of the white race.
It pays to increase your word power these days. There’s much more to
alt-right coded language than meets the eye – or the ear. “Steven Petrow
is a Social Justice Warrior, a public predator, a devotee of political
correctness, and happy to tar and feather others with false
accusations.” If they say it often enough, you might believe it, and
then you might not believe anything I write or say. That’s their whole
point.
Now is the summer of our discontent: memes, national identity and the globalisation of rage
Associate Professor in People, Organizations, Society, Grenoble École de Management (GEM)
Disclosure statement
Michelle Mielly does not work for, consult, own shares
in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would
benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations
beyond their academic appointment.
Memes may be all the rage in these heady days of digital
trending, but they’re not a new thing. Ever since Richard Dawkins coined
the term in his popular 1976 book The Selfish Gene, scientists have been putting memes under the microscope.
For Dawkins, memes were discrete units of cultural inheritance
(gossip, images, fashion fads, catchphrases) that, by virtue of their
rapid dissemination and adoption, drive cultural evolution, just as
genes propel forth our biology.
In other words, memes can change the world with “likes” and “shares”.
Global meme wars
There’s even a field dedicated to their study: memetics considers how certain cultural artefacts go “viral”. Mentally and socially “contagious”, memes provide immediate, visual expressions of our common humanity as they jump from brain to brain.
Since memes are simplified versions of reality, their intended
meaning can be easily subverted or simplified to serve a new political
purpose. Hitler’s appropriation of the sacred Hindu swastika, which symbolised well-being, is a prime example.
Once the brain makes the memetic association, it’s next to impossible
for it to restore the original content. What traveller doesn’t think of the Nazis when they see swastikas at holy sites across Southeast Asia?
This is how memes are helping to redraw the boundaries of what
constitutes acceptable political discourse, particularly since the 2016
US presidential election, when meme wars raged between left and right.
These online battles, which continue today in America, skewering everyone from the news network CNN to Trump supporters and Hillary enthusiasts, came to France, too, just in time for its 2017 election season. Memes failed to sway the French citizenry, as several commentators have noted. But France’s meme wars demonstrated the transnational influence of the so-called “alt-right” hate groups that managed to transform Pepe the Frog into a racist mouthpiece and, in doing so, set a precedent for future memetic wars.
The alt-right rises online
The meme maelstrom is pushing us to rethink questions of national identity that have been with us for quite some time.
Since the Enlightenment, Western scholars have largely been sympathetic to the notion of an international, cosmopolitan identity shared by a global citizenry. This was the view promoted in Martha Nussbaum’s 1994 essay on cosmopolitan education,
in which she promotes the “embrace of humanity” wherever it is
encountered, “undeterred by traits that are strange”, and an eagerness
to “understand humanity in its ‘strange’ guises.”
That same year, Homi K. Bhabha’s Location of Culture
theorised that cosmopolitans inhabited a hybrid “third space”,
comfortably in the interstice between two national cultures or passport
identities.
The historian and anthropologist James Clifford, too, saw that
Western identity was at a crossroads in the late 20th century. His Predicament of Culture
(1988) described modern identity as one that “is always, to varying
degrees, ‘inauthentic’: caught between cultures, implicated in others”.
What these cultural critics missed as they gazed across the planet at the height of globalisation
was that some elements then just barely on the horizon – including the
pain and anger of a less privileged, untraveled, often rural electorate –
would soon build serious momentum.
Nor did their visions include the digital advent of an array of
anti-cosmopolitan provocateurs, from conservative intellectuals,
hackers, reactionaries and anarchists to anti-Semites, fascists,
Islamophobes and homophobes, who would eventually form the alt-right.
Memes are not limited to any given ideology, but the alt-right used them effectively in the 2016 US presidential campaign.Jim Bourg/ReutersFake news and dark memes
are not limited to the West, nor to any one political leaning, of
course. Many other democracies, some of them secular, are struggling
with their own multicultural identities.
The disenfranchised of the world don’t celebrate their global citizenship; they take their political rage to the internet. The Arab world is grappling with online calls to jihadism, and India with violent nationalism that has spawned a wave of Hindu attacks on Muslims.
From Reddit to 4Chan, the anti-cosmopolitans can voice their anti-establishment views anonymously loosening or dispatching entirely with the straitjacket of political correctness.
All of this reflects what author Pankaj Mishra calls the “globalisation of rage”.
His new book, Age of Anger, explores the paranoia, hatred, and pain of those who remain beyond the reach of liberal cosmopolitanism.
Triggered by the influx of new and diverse populations, the conservative instinct seeks out familiarity and attempts to ward off foreignness
more intensely than the average. Now, thanks to memes and social media,
these defensive impulses can spiral outward much faster, and hit a lot
harder.
The use of memes to promote hate complements more traditional forms
of communication, such as physical poster boards, signage and
advertising. We can see their confluence at universities around the
globe.
In May 2017, leaders of an Anglo-Afrikaaner student group at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University updated, in meme-like fashion, old Nazi propaganda posters to publicise their group.
Spurring a debate on privacy, free speech and social media, the college meme war has even gone Ivy League, a surprising twist in the narrative of the dispossessed.
In June 2017, Harvard announced that it would withdraw offers made to ten admitted freshmen
for starting a Class of 2021 Facebook group that promoted offensive
memes that “mocked sexual assault, the Holocaust and the deaths of
children”.
Harvard is not alone. Across the United States, college campuses are ablaze with the debate over what constitutes free speech versus hate speech,
demonstrating that we are not at the beginning of something new here,
but rather well immersed already in a cultural identity war.
Banalising evil
Unlike Nussbaum and other cultural critics, American philosopher Richard Rorty
(1931-2007) foresaw the dangers of turning a blind eye to America’s
underprivileged. In the 1990s, he envisioned an environment of
“sadism[,] which the academic Left has tried to make unacceptable to its
students, will come flooding back”.
Ten years after his death, Rorty’s dual predictions that “the gains
made in the past forty years by black and brown Americans and by
homosexuals will be wiped out” and that “contempt for women will come
back into fashion” are now bearing out.
While many of his contemporaries dismissed or ignored Rorty’s dire predictions, philosopher Hannah Arendt had also foreseen these identity wars, as early as 1963.
Dissecting the trail of war criminal Adolf Eichmann, Arendt observed the systemic failure to think among Nazis and their followers and concluded, famously, that evil can easily be banalized.
As we now know only too well, evil can easily become banal online, too.
Anthill 20: Myths
er Metropolitan University
Partners
The Conversation UK receives funding from Hefce, Hefcw, SAGE,
SFC, RCUK, The Nuffield Foundation, The Ogden Trust, The Royal Society,
The Wellcome Trust, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and The Alliance for
Useful Evidence, as well as sixty five university members.
How do we know that ideas we hold true aren’t just myths that
will be proved untrue in the future? Or maybe you have a favourite fact
or story that’s already been debunked but no one has told you yet.
In this episode of The Anthill podcast, all about myths, we’ve got three stories of researchers pouring cold water over ideas that some people still believe.
First, we hear from Cat Jarman, a bio-archaeologist at the University
of Bristol who studies old bones on Easter Island in Polynesia. The
native Rapanui people are often accused of destroying their own society
by chopping down all the island’s trees to erect their famous stone
statues. But as Jarman explains, this “ecocide” theory is a myth.
Statues, known as moai, on Easter Island.via trackpete/flickr, CC BY-NC
From myths about population decline, we turn to myths about race.
Ornette Clennon, who co-leads Manchester Metropolitan University’s
critical race and ethnicity research group, explains the history of
polygenism – the pseudoscience of categorising humans into different
racial categories or species. And Duncan Sayer, an archaeologist at the
University of Central Lancashire, debunks myths about the Anglo Saxons
that some present-day alt-right movements still hold true. Our final story is about urban myths – those spine-tingling horror
stories which always seem to happen to a friend of a friend. Karl Bell, a
historian at the University of Portsmouth, recounts the origins of one
such urban legend that terrified Victorian Londoners: spring-heeled
jack.
You can subscribe to The Anthill on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts from. And while you’re there check out The Conversation’s new podcast, In Depth Out Loud, where we narrate in depth articles by experts in audio form. The Anthill theme music is by Alex Grey for Melody Loops. In the segment on Easter Island, the clip of Jared Diamond was from UCTV and the Easter Island music came via YouTube and the ChileTravelChannel. In the segment on urban legends, the music came from Lionel Schmitt via Soundcloud. Click here to listen to more episodes of The Anthill, on themes including Belief, The Future and Pain. A big thanks to City University London’s Department of Journalism for letting us use their studios to record.
Alt-right claims to march in step with the Knights Templar – this is fake histo
Lecturer in Film Studies, University of Portsmouth
Disclosure statement
Patrick Masters was awarded a bursary to attend and
present at the 2018 International Medieval Conference at the University
of Leeds, donated by The Templar Heritage Trust.
The Conversation UK receives funding from Hefce, Hefcw, SAGE,
SFC, RCUK, The Nuffield Foundation, The Ogden Trust, The Royal Society,
The Wellcome Trust, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and The Alliance for
Useful Evidence, as well as sixty five university members. View the full list Republish this article
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under Creative Commons licence.
When market trader Tina Gayle was banned from selling mugs
featuring Knights Templar logos in a Loughborough Market, Charnwood
Borough Council ruled that they were offensive to Muslims. A story in
the Daily Mail reported that Gayle had “been previously been warned by the council for selling Nazi memorabilia”.
A subsequent report
said that the council had not been concerned about what was depicted on
the mugs, only that they were new products being sold on a vintage
market. But the inclusion in the coverage of this little reference to
the stallholder’s Nazi products highlights the regular association of
the Knights Templar with right-wing extremism.
Drinking vessel for mugs.Amazon
Of course, the Knights Templar symbology recalls the crusades – and
is associated with medieval Christian fanaticism – but other prominent
crusade iconography, such as the cross of the Knights Hospitaller, used
by St John’s Ambulance is overlooked. So why does Templar imagery garner
a similar reaction to Nazi symbols, while another equally significant
crusader image hardly registers with the wider public – except with
positive connotations?
Soldiers, doctors and bankers
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, also known as The Knights Hospitaller, was founded
after the first crusade to provide hospital care for pilgrims
sanctioned by Pope Paschall II in 1113. The infamous Order of The Poor
Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, also known as
The Templar, was founded in 1119
by Hugh de Payens, a French nobleman, as a revolutionary monastic
order, that would escort and protect pilgrims travelling to the Holy
Land.
Escutcheon of the Knights Hospitaller of Rhodes (1305-1523) in Athens War Museum.Dimitris Kamaras via Flickr, CC BY-SA
These two orders grew to become the premier Christian fighting forces
in the Holy Land, due to the large amount of wealth gifted them by the
European nobles. The Templars and the Hospitallers
were major forces right up until the Christians were expelled from the
Holy Land in 1291. Despite the prominence of their military roles, the
Knights Hospitaller provided medical care for pilgrims, while the Knights Templar grew richer by acting as bankers for crusading nobles. While both orders played major roles within the crusades, their
respective icons evoke different sentiments – these days, the
Hospitaller cross represents the charitable work of St John’s Ambulance
but the Templar cross is deemed offensive and worthy of a ban.
Hatred on the streets
The red cross upon a white background, a symbol of the Knights
Templar, carries connotations of nationalism within the UK due to its
resemblance to the cross of St George on the English flag. The iconic
cross has been thematically appropriated by extremist right-wing group
the English Defence League (EDL), and the group has been known to dress in quasi-knightly garb
The English Defence League has appropriated the Cross of St George.Gavin Lynn via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
The most infamous and horrific association with Templars in recent
times would be the claims made by the right-wing extremist and mass
murderer Anders Behring Breivik, who in 2011 carried out terrorist
attacks in Norway. Following his attacks, a manifesto appeared in which Breivik claimed to be a Justiciar Knight Commander for Knights Templar Europe. Breivik is not alone in asserting a Templar identity within right wing views. The modern Templar community, The Knights Templar-UK,
also forgets the monastic lifestyle of the order and uses it as a
platform for the right-wing views outlined on its website. On a page
called “Our Aims” it states:
With the advent of mass immigration, this balance can be swung in
many directions, including ones where extremists of particular faiths,
may wish to dominate and control other’s beliefs.
The site also offers a review of the British political parties,
stating which ones the Templars would identify with most closely.
According to the website, these parties are the English Democrats, Ukip
and the BNP – ironic, when you think that the Templars were an
international organisation that spanned Europe.
In the frame
Popular culture often paints the Knights Templar as villains within a
medieval setting, most notably in Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven,
which depicted the Templar as racist murderers who hate Muslims and
openly mock religion. Scott’s film depicts a Hospitaller knight as a
pious man who counsels the film’s protagonist Balian and condemns the
violent acts of the Temp
Arabic chroniclers of the crusades directly contradict Scott’s villainous Templar. Syrian writer Usama ibn Munqidh
(1095-1188) explains that the Templars were more understanding and
respectful of the Islamic faith than the average Christian crusader.
This underlines the doubtfulness of the Templar warrior monk’s fanatical
hatred of Islam and subverts the notion of the order as a symbol of
right wing Christian extremism. Ridley Scott’s fictional depiction of the villainous Templar originates with Sir Walter Scott in his 1820 novel Ivanhoe,
which was, in turn, inspired by discredited 19th-century accounts of
the crusades. Those themes of hatred and greed leave out the religious
aspect of the crusades, which the medieval scholar Nickolas Haydock, citing historian Professor Jonathan Riley-Smith, explains is “an invention of 19th-century medievalism, exemplified in the works of Sir Walter Scott”.
Scott’s fictional accounts created the notion of the evil Templar
within popular culture and cast them as more like Nazis, in direct
contrast to the more pacific Hospitaller order – who his film director
namesake duly depicted as the opposite to the fanatical Templar.
So now the Templars have become associated with the worst excesses of
an already dark period in medieval history. But to portray them as the
ultimate evil of the crusades – or to praise them as champions of a
narrow-minded nationalism – is a simplistic misrepresentation of the
200-year history of the crusades. There are no calls to ban the imagery
of the Hospitallers, yet Templar iconography remains controversial due
to its association with extremist views – unfairly connected to them
through popular culture since the 19th century.
Mary Beard is right, Roman Britain was multi-ethnic – so why does this upset people so much?
Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, University of East Anglia
Disclosure statement
John-Mark Philo does not work for, consult, own shares
in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would
benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations
beyond their academic appointment.
The Conversation UK receives funding from Hefce, Hefcw, SAGE,
SFC, RCUK, The Nuffield Foundation, The Ogden Trust, The Royal Society,
The Wellcome Trust, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and The Alliance for
Useful Evidence, as well as sixty five university members. View the full list
Nil nimium studeo, Caesar, tibi velle placere,
nec scire utrum sis albus an ater homo.
I’m not overly anxious, Caesar, to please you,
Or to know whether you’re a white or a black man.
The Roman poet Catullus, now known for the erotic verse
he wrote for Lesbia and Juventius, wasn’t particularly bothered about a
man’s skin pigmentation (in this particular instance, that of Julius
Caesar). So why are we?
Mary Beard, professor of classics at the University of Cambridge, has recently been at the receiving end of a “torrent of aggressive insults”
for suggesting that Britain under the Roman empire – which at its
height stretched from northern Africa to Scotland – was ethnically
diverse. The trouble started when Beard described an educational cartoon produced by the BBC, which included a black Roman solider in Britain, as “pretty accurate”.
The really interesting question here is not whether the Roman empire was ethnically diverse (it was) or even whether there were African people in the British Isles (we think there probably were)
– but why it is now so important for some to establish beyond question
that there was a time when Britain’s population was white and nothing
else. What exactly is at stake in promoting this view of Britain’s past?
Beard’s opponents, objecting to the depiction of a black man as a
high-ranking Roman soldier, have been keen to pin down exactly just how
dark-skinned a member of the Roman empire living in Britain could have
been. “North Africans were lightskinned,” one commentator was eager to point out.
Rather than an opportunity to reflect on the languages, the
literatures, the cross-cultural encounters that textured and enriched
the Roman empire, some of the attacks on Beard are seemingly about
negating in the strongest possible terms the presence of dark skin in
British history.
The cultural and ethnic origins of the British Isles have always been
subject to critical back and forth. In the 16th century, the Scottish
historian Hector Boece recounted the tradition that the Scots were Egyptian in origin, descended from the princess Scota. South of the border, Raphael Holinshed
(from whom Shakespeare derived so much of his material) rehearsed the
tradition that Brutus, a descendent of Aeneas, prince of Troy (located
in what is modern day Turkey) came to rule Britain with “a great train
of the posterity of the dispersed Trojans”.
Now, faced with what is rather more persuasive evidence for multi-ethnicity
in Britain’s ancient past, we are apparently no longer willing to
entertain the idea that the ethnic origins of the British Isles were
actually as complex as the archaeological, textual, and isotopic evidence suggests.
We might point to Quintus Lollius Urbicus, the Roman governor of Britain, who was born in Numidia (today’s Algeria) and upon whom the BBC cartoon appears to have been based.
Urbicus, whose presence in Britain is recorded on an inscription at
Corbridge, Northumberland, was responsible for reconquering the south of
Scotl
Roman ruins at Corbidge.Glen Bowman via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
Then there is the evidence offered by tombstones,
including that of Regina, a former slave and member of Catuvellauni, a
Celtic tribe to the south, who, as her tombstone explains, married the
Syrian Barates, from Palmyra (Barates Palmyrenus Natione). To this we might add the tombstone of Victor – a freedman who was buried in Britain and was “Moorish by birth” (Natione Maurum). Scientific research
has also shed new light on migration to ancient Britain. The project by
Reading University, A Long Way From Home: Diaspora Communities in Roman
Britain, used skeletal and isotopic remains to examine migrant
communities under the empire. The team examined the chemical signatures
on ancient teeth and bone to explore potential differences in diet and
health between migrants and the rest of the local population.
And, of course, there were also British migrants to be found across the empire, including the centurions Titus Quintius Petrullus – whose tombstone, describing him as “from Britain”, was uncovered in Syria – and Marcus Minicius Marcellinus,
who, although originally from Lincoln, was stationed in Mainz. The tomb
of another Lincoln soldier, Marcus Junius Capito, has been uncovered in
the old Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis – modern-day Algeria.
Migration is and has always been a two-way street.
The responses Beard has received arguably are concerned with
protecting a very particular, very limiting view of the past at the
expense of a genuinely enlightening debate about the Roman empire. At
best, this speaks of an unwillingness to engage patiently and critically
with questions which can nuance our understanding of history – and at
worst, of a desire to keep the British past white.
Thank you for doing so much to educate people
regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from your insights, and
try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone
tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind
them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination… end of
debate.
I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God’s Laws and how to follow them.
1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and
female, provided they are purchased from neighbouring nations. A friend
of mine claims that this applies to Scottish people, but not Welsh. Can
you clarify? Why can’t I own English people?
2. I would like to
sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day
and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
3. I
know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her
period of menstrual unseemliness – Lev. 15: 19-24. The problem is how do
I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offence.
4.
When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a
pleasing odor for the Lord – Lev. 1:9. The problem is my neighbours.
They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
5. I have a neighbour who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus
35:2. clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated
to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
6. A
friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination
– Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t
agree. Can you settle this? Are there ‘degrees’ of abomination?
7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a
defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does
my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?
8.
Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair
around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.
19:27. How should they die?
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that
touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play
football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates
Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does
his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread
(cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is
it reallynecessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the
whole town together to stone them? Lev. 24:10-16. Couldn’t we just burn
them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who
sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
I know you have studied
these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such
matters, so I am confident you can help.
Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.
Your adoring fan,
Left-wing brexiteers need to address this particular issue rapidly;
"the part of the Conservative party that sees Brexit as a deregulatory
opportunity, for whom “taking back control” means scrapping as many
business costs – taxes, regulations, pension obligations, workplace
rights and employment protections – as possible. Reports at the weekend
suggested that Michael Gove is leading a cabinet push for the UK to
abandon the terms of the EU working time directive – which among other
things ensures a maximum 48-hour working week. This is the opposite
kind of Britain to the one for which large numbers of working-class
leavers voted in 2016. They wanted more security, as they saw it, not
less. They did not vote for the freedom to work more hours for less pay
and fewer rights. But this deregulated country is the one the Brexiteer
right is determined to give them." with thanks to Paul Sambrook for drawing my attention to this article in the Guardian..
A friend of mine on Facebook commented this recently " said to the Lexit left
"But
you rubbed shoulders with people who most certainly are. The 1% told
the country to vote for Leave through their papers
(Mail/Sun/Express/Telegraph) because they believed that that would
facilitate their further exploitation of
the rest of us and their piling up more zillions. The old far-left
wanted us to vote for Leave because they believed that that was the way
to ensure the birth of true Socialism. I know which is more likely to be
achieved."
Graham Mallaghan"Spot
on. I just don't understand why any leftist voted for the one Brexit on
offer to us - a Brexit of the far right of the Tory Party and of
fascists and neo-Nazis.
The fabled Lexit was not on offer. And is not on offer now - even Corbyn wouldn't be
able to deliver it if he got in as PM tomorrow - years or decades of
political and economic reform would be required to undo the entrenched
structures that prevent true socialism from taking hold in the UK.
All
that Lexiteers did last year was become Tories, fascists, and neo-Nazis
for a day and collaboraters with the most reactionary and fascistic
elements in UK politics and society. We are going to have to live with
the consequences of their treachery to the Left and to the people of the
UK for a very long time."
"There
are many things that separate the alternative right from old-school
racist skinheads (to whom they are often idiotically compared), but
one thing stands out above all else: intelligence. Skinheads, by and
large, are low-information, low-IQ thugs driven by the thrill of
violence and tribal hatred. The alternative right are a much smarter
group of people — which perhaps suggests why the Left hates them so
much. They’re dangerously bright."
I have seen the following terms used over and over again. The attempts to control language is an important step in controlling people. Please make yourself aware of the meaning, implications and discourse of the alt right. These terms are also often used by unthinking right wingers. its time to resist.....
The
general world view of the alt-right. But how can you identify
someone who considers themselves part of it? Like most groups,
the alt-right has its own code words and slang. Here are some terms
they use, and other hallmarks to look out for
Beta: Members
of the alt-right are obsessed with masculinity, manhood, gender
roles and the concept of "alpha" and "beta"
males. Alpha males are leaders, like Trump; beta males are
portrayed as weak and emasculated.
Crybaby,
whiny: Anyone
who disagrees with them or their preferred candidate, particularly
protesters and people who complain that the alt-right is embracing
racism and anti-Semitism.
Cuckservative,
cuck: The
term "cuckservative" originated in the alt-right. It's a
portmanteau of "conservative" and "cuckold" used
to describe Republicans who are perceived to be emasculated or
"selling out." Frequently shortened to "cuck,"
the term has come under scrutiny for its racist
implications.
Human
biodiversity: Despite
the fact that many say racism is at the heart of its platform,
the alt-right is very sensitive about being called racist. They use
the term“human
biodiversity” as
a more scientific-sounding way of referring to issues of race.
Libtard: The
alt-right revels in the rejection of "political correctness,"
so embracing an outdated term for a person with an intellectual
disability ("retard") serves the purpose of insulting
liberals.
Masculinist: A
word meant to embody the opposite of feminist, celebrating
“manliness” and the traditional “heroic” nature of men. To
the alt-right, "masculinist" principles are ones that serve
and advocate for men. Critics say they primarily reinforce antiquated
gender roles.
Multiculturalism (as
a derogatory term): A
major component of the alt-right platform is white supremacy and
nationalism. "Multiculturalism" is used as a negative
term for the blending of multiple cultures, as opposed to celebrating
the supposed superiority of Western European culture. . Often used as
shorthand for policies that benefit immigrants and people of color.
Neoreactionaries: Also
known as NRx and the "Dark Enlightenment." A group of
people who call for stripping away anything other than supposedly
rational thought, as opposed to a “feelings first” mentality.
They advocate for libertarianism, traditional gender roles and
neofascism.
Political
correctness: Anything
that challenges an alt-right person's right to say whatever they
want, whenever they want, in any way they want to say it. According
to the alt-right, political correctness is responsible for most of
society's ills, including feminism, Islamic terrorism and overly
liberal college campuses.
Snowflake: Short
for "special snowflake," a pejorative for an entitled
person. Most people protesting Trump are "snowflakes,"
according to the alt-right, as are anti-Trump celebrities and most
liberals.
SJW: Short
for "social justice warrior," this insult is mostly
reserved for young women who try to argue on behalf of liberal or
feminist ideas.
White
genocide: What
many alt-right members feel is the natural conclusion of liberalism
and pro-immigrant policies. The alt-right views just about anything
that benefits nonwhite people, particularly ones who aren't American
citizens, as a risk to whiteness and a step on the road to the
eradication of the white race.
It pays to increase your word power these days. There’s much more to
alt-right coded language than meets the eye – or the ear. “Steven Petrow
is a Social Justice Warrior, a public predator, a devotee of political
correctness, and happy to tar and feather others with false
accusations.” If they say it often enough, you might believe it, and
then you might not believe anything I write or say. That’s their whole
point.
Anthill 20: Myths
er Metropolitan University
Partners
The Conversation UK receives funding from Hefce, Hefcw, SAGE,
SFC, RCUK, The Nuffield Foundation, The Ogden Trust, The Royal Society,
The Wellcome Trust, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and The Alliance for
Useful Evidence, as well as sixty five university members.
How do we know that ideas we hold true aren’t just myths that
will be proved untrue in the future? Or maybe you have a favourite fact
or story that’s already been debunked but no one has told you yet.
In this episode of The Anthill podcast, all about myths, we’ve got three stories of researchers pouring cold water over ideas that some people still believe.
First, we hear from Cat Jarman, a bio-archaeologist at the University
of Bristol who studies old bones on Easter Island in Polynesia. The
native Rapanui people are often accused of destroying their own society
by chopping down all the island’s trees to erect their famous stone
statues. But as Jarman explains, this “ecocide” theory is a myth.
Statues, known as moai, on Easter Island.via trackpete/flickr, CC BY-NC
From myths about population decline, we turn to myths about race.
Ornette Clennon, who co-leads Manchester Metropolitan University’s
critical race and ethnicity research group, explains the history of
polygenism – the pseudoscience of categorising humans into different
racial categories or species. And Duncan Sayer, an archaeologist at the
University of Central Lancashire, debunks myths about the Anglo Saxons
that some present-day alt-right movements still hold true.
Our final story is about urban myths – those spine-tingling horror
stories which always seem to happen to a friend of a friend. Karl Bell, a
historian at the University of Portsmouth, recounts the origins of one
such urban legend that terrified Victorian Londoners: spring-heeled
jack.
You can subscribe to The Anthill on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts from. And while you’re there check out The Conversation’s new podcast, In Depth Out Loud, where we narrate in depth articles by experts in audio form. The Anthill theme music is by Alex Grey for Melody Loops. In the segment on Easter Island, the clip of Jared Diamond was from UCTV and the Easter Island music came via YouTube and the ChileTravelChannel. In the segment on urban legends, the music came from Lionel Schmitt via Soundcloud. Click here to listen to more episodes of The Anthill, on themes including Belief, The Future and Pain. A big thanks to City University London’s Department of Journalism for letting us use their studios to record.
Alt-right claims to march in step with the Knights Templar – this is fake histo
Lecturer in Film Studies, University of Portsmouth
Disclosure statement
Patrick Masters was awarded a bursary to attend and
present at the 2018 International Medieval Conference at the University
of Leeds, donated by The Templar Heritage Trust.
The Conversation UK receives funding from Hefce, Hefcw, SAGE,
SFC, RCUK, The Nuffield Foundation, The Ogden Trust, The Royal Society,
The Wellcome Trust, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and The Alliance for
Useful Evidence, as well as sixty five university members. View the full list Republish this article
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under Creative Commons licence.
When market trader Tina Gayle was banned from selling mugs
featuring Knights Templar logos in a Loughborough Market, Charnwood
Borough Council ruled that they were offensive to Muslims. A story in
the Daily Mail reported that Gayle had “been previously been warned by the council for selling Nazi memorabilia”.
A subsequent report
said that the council had not been concerned about what was depicted on
the mugs, only that they were new products being sold on a vintage
market. But the inclusion in the coverage of this little reference to
the stallholder’s Nazi products highlights the regular association of
the Knights Templar with right-wing extremism.
Drinking vessel for mugs.Amazon
Of course, the Knights Templar symbology recalls the crusades – and
is associated with medieval Christian fanaticism – but other prominent
crusade iconography, such as the cross of the Knights Hospitaller, used
by St John’s Ambulance is overlooked. So why does Templar imagery garner
a similar reaction to Nazi symbols, while another equally significant
crusader image hardly registers with the wider public – except with
positive connotations?
Soldiers, doctors and bankers
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, also known as The Knights Hospitaller, was founded
after the first crusade to provide hospital care for pilgrims
sanctioned by Pope Paschall II in 1113. The infamous Order of The Poor
Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, also known as
The Templar, was founded in 1119
by Hugh de Payens, a French nobleman, as a revolutionary monastic
order, that would escort and protect pilgrims travelling to the Holy
Land.
Escutcheon of the Knights Hospitaller of Rhodes (1305-1523) in Athens War Museum.Dimitris Kamaras via Flickr, CC BY-SA
These two orders grew to become the premier Christian fighting forces
in the Holy Land, due to the large amount of wealth gifted them by the
European nobles. The Templars and the Hospitallers
were major forces right up until the Christians were expelled from the
Holy Land in 1291. Despite the prominence of their military roles, the
Knights Hospitaller provided medical care for pilgrims, while the Knights Templar grew richer by acting as bankers for crusading nobles.
While both orders played major roles within the crusades, their
respective icons evoke different sentiments – these days, the
Hospitaller cross represents the charitable work of St John’s Ambulance
but the Templar cross is deemed offensive and worthy of a ban.
Hatred on the streets
The red cross upon a white background, a symbol of the Knights
Templar, carries connotations of nationalism within the UK due to its
resemblance to the cross of St George on the English flag. The iconic
cross has been thematically appropriated by extremist right-wing group
the English Defence League (EDL), and the group has been known to dress in quasi-knightly garb
The English Defence League has appropriated the Cross of St George.Gavin Lynn via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
The most infamous and horrific association with Templars in recent
times would be the claims made by the right-wing extremist and mass
murderer Anders Behring Breivik, who in 2011 carried out terrorist
attacks in Norway. Following his attacks, a manifesto appeared in which Breivik claimed to be a Justiciar Knight Commander for Knights Templar Europe.
Breivik is not alone in asserting a Templar identity within right wing views. The modern Templar community, The Knights Templar-UK,
also forgets the monastic lifestyle of the order and uses it as a
platform for the right-wing views outlined on its website. On a page
called “Our Aims” it states:
With the advent of mass immigration, this balance can be swung in
many directions, including ones where extremists of particular faiths,
may wish to dominate and control other’s beliefs.
The site also offers a review of the British political parties,
stating which ones the Templars would identify with most closely.
According to the website, these parties are the English Democrats, Ukip
and the BNP – ironic, when you think that the Templars were an
international organisation that spanned Europe.
In the frame
Popular culture often paints the Knights Templar as villains within a
medieval setting, most notably in Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven,
which depicted the Templar as racist murderers who hate Muslims and
openly mock religion. Scott’s film depicts a Hospitaller knight as a
pious man who counsels the film’s protagonist Balian and condemns the
violent acts of the Templ
Arabic chroniclers of the crusades directly contradict Scott’s villainous Templar. Syrian writer Usama ibn Munqidh
(1095-1188) explains that the Templars were more understanding and
respectful of the Islamic faith than the average Christian crusader.
This underlines the doubtfulness of the Templar warrior monk’s fanatical
hatred of Islam and subverts the notion of the order as a symbol of
right wing Christian extremism.
Ridley Scott’s fictional depiction of the villainous Templar originates with Sir Walter Scott in his 1820 novel Ivanhoe,
which was, in turn, inspired by discredited 19th-century accounts of
the crusades. Those themes of hatred and greed leave out the religious
aspect of the crusades, which the medieval scholar Nickolas Haydock, citing historian Professor Jonathan Riley-Smith, explains is “an invention of 19th-century medievalism, exemplified in the works of Sir Walter Scott”.
Scott’s fictional accounts created the notion of the evil Templar
within popular culture and cast them as more like Nazis, in direct
contrast to the more pacific Hospitaller order – who his film director
namesake duly depicted as the opposite to the fanatical Templar.
So now the Templars have become associated with the worst excesses of
an already dark period in medieval history. But to portray them as the
ultimate evil of the crusades – or to praise them as champions of a
narrow-minded nationalism – is a simplistic misrepresentation of the
200-year history of the crusades. There are no calls to ban the imagery
of the Hospitallers, yet Templar iconography remains controversial due
to its association with extremist views – unfairly connected to them
through popular culture since the 19th century.
Mary Beard is right, Roman Britain was multi-ethnic – so why does this upset people so much?
Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, University of East Anglia
Disclosure statement
John-Mark Philo does not work for, consult, own shares
in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would
benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations
beyond their academic appointment.
The Conversation UK receives funding from Hefce, Hefcw, SAGE,
SFC, RCUK, The Nuffield Foundation, The Ogden Trust, The Royal Society,
The Wellcome Trust, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and The Alliance for
Useful Evidence, as well as sixty five university members. View the full list
Nil nimium studeo, Caesar, tibi velle placere,
nec scire utrum sis albus an ater homo.
I’m not overly anxious, Caesar, to please you,
Or to know whether you’re a white or a black man.
The Roman poet Catullus, now known for the erotic verse
he wrote for Lesbia and Juventius, wasn’t particularly bothered about a
man’s skin pigmentation (in this particular instance, that of Julius
Caesar). So why are we?
Mary Beard, professor of classics at the University of Cambridge, has recently been at the receiving end of a “torrent of aggressive insults”
for suggesting that Britain under the Roman empire – which at its
height stretched from northern Africa to Scotland – was ethnically
diverse. The trouble started when Beard described an educational cartoon produced by the BBC, which included a black Roman solider in Britain, as “pretty accurate”.
The really interesting question here is not whether the Roman empire was ethnically diverse (it was) or even whether there were African people in the British Isles (we think there probably were)
– but why it is now so important for some to establish beyond question
that there was a time when Britain’s population was white and nothing
else. What exactly is at stake in promoting this view of Britain’s past?
Beard’s opponents, objecting to the depiction of a black man as a
high-ranking Roman soldier, have been keen to pin down exactly just how
dark-skinned a member of the Roman empire living in Britain could have
been. “North Africans were lightskinned,” one commentator was eager to point out.
Rather than an opportunity to reflect on the languages, the
literatures, the cross-cultural encounters that textured and enriched
the Roman empire, some of the attacks on Beard are seemingly about
negating in the strongest possible terms the presence of dark skin in
British history.
The cultural and ethnic origins of the British Isles have always been
subject to critical back and forth. In the 16th century, the Scottish
historian Hector Boece recounted the tradition that the Scots were Egyptian in origin, descended from the princess Scota. South of the border, Raphael Holinshed
(from whom Shakespeare derived so much of his material) rehearsed the
tradition that Brutus, a descendent of Aeneas, prince of Troy (located
in what is modern day Turkey) came to rule Britain with “a great train
of the posterity of the dispersed Trojans”.
Now, faced with what is rather more persuasive evidence for multi-ethnicity
in Britain’s ancient past, we are apparently no longer willing to
entertain the idea that the ethnic origins of the British Isles were
actually as complex as the archaeological, textual, and isotopic evidence suggests.
We might point to Quintus Lollius Urbicus, the Roman governor of Britain, who was born in Numidia (today’s Algeria) and upon whom the BBC cartoon appears to have been based.
Urbicus, whose presence in Britain is recorded on an inscription at
Corbridge, Northumberland, was responsible for reconquering the south of
Scotl
Roman ruins at Corbidge.Glen Bowman via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
Then there is the evidence offered by tombstones,
including that of Regina, a former slave and member of Catuvellauni, a
Celtic tribe to the south, who, as her tombstone explains, married the
Syrian Barates, from Palmyra (Barates Palmyrenus Natione). To this we might add the tombstone of Victor – a freedman who was buried in Britain and was “Moorish by birth” (Natione Maurum). Scientific research
has also shed new light on migration to ancient Britain. The project by
Reading University, A Long Way From Home: Diaspora Communities in Roman
Britain, used skeletal and isotopic remains to examine migrant
communities under the empire. The team examined the chemical signatures
on ancient teeth and bone to explore potential differences in diet and
health between migrants and the rest of the local population.
And, of course, there were also British migrants to be found across the empire, including the centurions Titus Quintius Petrullus – whose tombstone, describing him as “from Britain”, was uncovered in Syria – and Marcus Minicius Marcellinus,
who, although originally from Lincoln, was stationed in Mainz. The tomb
of another Lincoln soldier, Marcus Junius Capito, has been uncovered in
the old Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis – modern-day Algeria.
Migration is and has always been a two-way street.
The responses Beard has received arguably are concerned with
protecting a very particular, very limiting view of the past at the
expense of a genuinely enlightening debate about the Roman empire. At
best, this speaks of an unwillingness to engage patiently and critically
with questions which can nuance our understanding of history – and at
worst, of a desire to keep the British past white.
