Author Archives: Philip A. Harland

Babylonian wisdom: Lucian’s Menippos visits Mithrobarzanes the Chaldean / Magian wise man (late second century CE)

Mediterranean peoples: Maximus of Tyre on images for the gods as ubiquitous among peoples (late second century CE)

Persians: Maximus of Tyre on “barbarizing” and the excesses of royal pleasure (late second century CE)

Sikanians, Sikelians, Phoenicians and Greeks: Thucydides on settlement of Sicily (late fifth century BCE)

Romans: Ammianus Marcellinus on the danger of decline into uncivilized lifestyles (late fourth century CE)

Ammianus Marcellinus: A guide for reading ethnographic passages

Egyptians: Ammianus on their “dark” complexion and insubordinate behaviour (late fourth century CE)

Thracians and other Black Sea peoples: Ammianus Marcellinus on their “savage” character and on Roman control (late fourth century CE)

Huns and Alans: Ammianus Marcellinus on “savage” nomadic threats (late fourth century CE)

Persians and neighbouring eastern peoples: Ammianus Marcellinus on Persian territories and lifestyles (late fourth century CE)

Tyrrhenians: Diodoros on Etruscan inventions, lifestyle, and decline (mid-first century BCE)

Ligurians: Diodoros on their harsh environment, hard work and noble spirit (mid-first century BCE)

Celtiberians, Iberians, and Lusitanians: Diodoros on their customs and military skill (mid-first century BCE)

Celts: Diodoros on Galatian origins and “savage” customs (mid-first century BCE)

Britons: Diodoros on a simple way of life (mid-first century BCE)

New scholarly article: Harland, “Subject Peoples and Civilizational Priority: Competition among Babylonians, Egyptians, and Judeans in the Hellenistic Era”

Parthians, Medes, and Babylonians: Pliny the Elder (first century CE)

Peoples of Arachosia and Ariana: Pliny the Elder on peoples between Baktria and India (first century CE)

Karmanians, Ichthyophagians, and others: Nearchos, Onesikritos, Juba, and Pliny on the area around the Persian Gulf (fourth century BCE-first century CE)

Pliny the Elder: A guide for reading ethnographic passages

Asian Albanians, Iberians, Mardians and others: Demodamas and Pliny the Elder on peoples in the Caucasus region and further east (third century BCE / first century CE)

Sarmatians and others: Pliny the Elder on peoples of northwestern Asia (first century CE)

Celts: Pliny the Elder on three Roman subdivisions of Gaul (first century CE)

Hyperboreans: Herodotos, Hekataios, Diodoros, and others on a legendary northern people (four century BCE to third century CE)

Scythians, Germans, and others: Pliny the Elder on peoples on the western and northern coasts of the Black Sea (first century CE)

Europeans, Africans, and Asians: Pliny the Elder on the framework for his ethnographic survey and on the superiority of Europeans (first century CE)

Indians, Taprobanians, and Serians: Pliny the Elder on numerous peoples and customs in India and beyond (first century CE)

Judean wisdom: Testament of Solomon on Solomon’s superiority in controlling lower spirits and in healing (first-third century CE)

Judean wisdom: Pseudo-Clementines on Abraham the astrologer and legends of migration (second-fourth centuries CE)

Persians and Egyptians: Pseudo-Clementines on the origins and nature of Magian skill (second-fourth centuries CE)

Eastern and northern peoples: Bardaisan of Edessa’s Book of the Laws of Countries and the Pseudo-Clementines on astrology and peoples (second-third centuries CE)

Pompeius Trogus: A guide for reading ethnographic passages

Panchaians: Euhemeros and Diodoros on a noble people worshipping Zeus on a utopian island (fourth / first century BCE)

Midianites and Moabites / Arabians: Josephos and Philo on intermixing and the dangers of acculturation (first century CE)

Egyptians: Josephos on the envy of an inferior people (last-first century CE)

Judean wisdom: Josephos’ self-presentation as the optimum wise Judean (late-first century CE)

Judean wisdom: Josephos on Solomon as the ultimate wise man, controller of lower spirits, and healer (late-first century CE)

People on an idyllic island in the Atlantic off Libya: Diodoros on their natural resources and on Carthaginian colonization plans (mid-first century BCE)

Baliaridians and other barbarian peoples off Iberia: Diodoros on their paradoxical customs (mid-first century BCE)

Trojans, Teukrians, and Dardanians: Diodoros on their origins (mid-first century BCE)

Taurians and Kolchians: Diodoros on the origins of human sacrifice in the Black Sea area (mid-first century BCE)

Sikanians, Sicilians, Sardinians and Iolaeians: Diodoros on ancient migrations and local customs on Sicily (mid-first century BCE)

Amalekites: Josephos and Philo on a prototypical arch-enemy people (first century CE)

Josephos of Jerusalem: A guide for reading ethnographic passages

Judean wisdom: Josephos on Abraham’s dissemination of astrological knowledge (late-first century CE)

Dacians and Istrians: Trogus on peoples west of the Black Sea (first century BCE)

Celts: Trogus on Gallic invasions and character (first century BCE)

Persians: Trogus on Alexander of Macedon’s acculturation to eastern ways (first century BCE)

Assyrians: Trogus on the achievements of Ninos and Semiramis and on the extreme effeminacy of Sardanapalus (first century BCE)

Judean wisdom: Aristoboulos on Moses and the Judean god as source for Plato and Pythagoras (mid-second century BCE)

Libyans, Assyrians and Arabians: Kleodemos and Josephos on Abraham and Keturah’s descendants and their many colonies (second or first century BCE on)

Arabians and Judeans: Jubilees, Molon, and Josephos on identifying the Ishmaelites (second century BCE on)

Greek diasporas and indigenous Iberians and Celts: Herodotos, Aristotle, Trogus and others on tales of Phokaian colonization (mid-fifth century BCE on)

Greek diasporas and indigenous Libyans: Herodotos on tales of colonization (mid-fifth century BCE)

Spartans and Judeans: First Maccabees’ and Josephos’ claims about kinship ties (ca. 100 BCE / ca. 90s CE)

Celts, Iberians, and Libyans: Polybios on the mixed composition of Hannibal of Carthage’s army and on military equipment (second century BCE)

Iberians and others: Avienus on a journey along the southern coast of Spain (mid-fourth century CE)

Circumnavigation authors: A guide for reading voyage literature on this site

Mediterranean peoples: Dionysios of Alexandria’s poetic Guide to the Inhabited World (117-138 CE)

Kolchians, Heniochians, Drillians, and others: Arrian on his journey along the Black Sea coast near the Caucasus mountains (ca. 131-132 CE)

Barbaria’s inhabitants, Arabians, and Indians: Anonymous author on trade and peoples on the Erythraian sea all the way to eastern India (mid-first century CE)

Indians: Hierokles on visiting the Brahmans (fifth century CE or earlier)

Clement of Alexandria: A guide for reading ethnographic passages

Indian wisdom: Alexander Polyhistor and Clement of Alexandria (VII) on the Brahmans and naked sages (first century BCE / late second century CE)

Serians (Chinese), Ottorokorians and others: Pliny the Elder on the savage silk people (first century CE)

Indians: Bardaisan of Edessa on Indian ambassadors’ tales and the Brahmans (early third century CE)

Agatharchides of Knidos: A guide for reading ethnographic passages

Herodotos of Halikarnassos: A guide for reading ethnographic passages

Curtius Rufus: A guide for reading ethnographic passages

Indians: Curtius Rufus on the environment and the peoples (first century CE)

Sogdians: Curtius Rufus on Alexander’s assessment of their noble and courageous character (first century CE)

Parapamisadians: Curtius Rufus on peoples east of Baktria (first century CE)

Persians: Curtius Rufus on Alexander of Macedon’s supposed decline into eastern ways (first century CE)

Amazons: Curtius Rufus on Alexander’s relationship with Thalestris (first century CE)

Mardians among Persians: Curtius Rufus on Alexander’s conquest of an uncivilized cave people (first century CE)

Parthians: Curtius Rufus on their Scythian origins (first century CE)

Persians: Curtius Rufus on military processions and royal luxury (first century CE)

Persians, Hyrkanians, Armenians, Derbikians and others: Curtius Rufus on the mixed composition of the army of Darius III (first century CE)

Canaanites / non-Judean peoples: Jubilees on the Dinah story and intermarriage (mid-second century BCE)

Egyptians: The Judean tale of Joseph and Aseneth on rejecting Egyptian gods and on intermarriage (ca. first century CE)

Persians: Emperor Diocletian on strange and monstrous Manicheans (ca. 300 CE)

Libyans and Maurians: Corippus’ poetic survey of northern African peoples in the tale of John Troglita (after 548 CE)

Axumite perspectives: Inscription by the king of Axum on the Ethiopian and Arabian peoples he conquered (late-second or early-third century CE)

Ethiopians: Artapanos and Josephos on Moses, intermarriage, and the Kushites (second century BCE-first century CE)

Ethiopians or Nubians: Pottery from Athens and Greek cities of Italy depicting a darker-skinned youth devoured by a crocodile (fifth-fourth centuries BCE)

Ethiopians or Nubians: Athenian-style pottery depictions of darker-skinned subjects (sixth-fifth centuries BCE)

Libyans and Ausourianians: Synesios on years of incursions into Cyrenaica (early fifth century CE)

Romans: Diodoros on Herakles’ journey to Rome before Rome (mid-first century BCE)

Libyans, Egyptians, Iberians, and Celts: Diodoros on Herakles’ civilizing expeditions (mid-first century BCE)

Libyans, Maurians and Ausourianians: Ammianus Marcellinus on their savage behaviour and banditry (late fourth century CE)

Ethiopians, Nubians, and Egyptians: Christian authors picturing darker-skinned peoples as “demons” (second century CE on)

Ethiopians: Palladios and others on Abba Moses the former bandit with darker skin (fourth-fifth centuries CE)

New scholarly article: Maia Kotrosits, “The Ethnography of Gender” (2023)

Egyptians, Ethiopians, Indians and others: Depictions of “pygmies” in Greek and Roman art (fifth century BCE-first century CE)

Various peoples: Polybios on the mixed composition of Ptolemy IV’s and Antiochos III’s armies (second century BCE)

Thracians: Attic vase paintings depicting Thracian women with tattoos, warriors, and Orpheus (sixth-fifth centuries BCE)

Romans, Egyptians, Persians, and others: Minucius Felix’s ethnographic defence of the Christian people (early third century CE)

Persians: Acts of Archelaos on Mani’s foreignness (early fourth century CE)

Thracians and Odrysians: Thucydides on Thracians, power, and violence (late fifth century BCE)

Dacians: Frieze of Trajan’s conquest reused on the so-called Arch of Constantine (likely 107 CE or after)

Celtic diasporas: Galatian mercenaries settled at Alexandria in Egypt (ca. 250-200 BCE)

Parthians: Kneeling colossal support statues in eastern garb (first century CE)

Sarmatians, Marcomannians, Quadians, and Iazygians: Reliefs on Marcus Aurelius’ column including women and children (176-193 CE)

Libyans: Dionysios of Mytilene and Diodoros on competing claims about the god Dionysos (third / mid-first century BCE)

Atlantians: Dionysios of Mytilene and Diodoros on supposed Atlantian stories about the earliest kings / gods (third / mid-first century BCE)

Libyans: Dionysios of Mytilene and Diodoros on Nasamonians, Marmaridians, and Libyan Amazons (third / mid-first century BCE)

Mediterranean peoples: Ovid on identifying personified peoples in art to impress a girl (early first century CE)

Mediterranean peoples: Pausanias, ethnographic interests, and local traditions (mid-second century CE)

Persians: Irenaeus on Marcus the Valentinian Magian (late second century CE)

Persians: Vitruvius theorizes about Greek depictions of enemies in architectural contexts (first century BCE)

Mediterranean peoples: Roman coins [part 3] on kneeling in supplication or adoration (first century BCE on)

Mediterranean peoples: Roman coins [part 2] on humiliated captives kneeling or on the ground (first century BCE on)

Mediterranean peoples: Diodoros, Pliny and Plutarch on Pompey’s subjugation of peoples of the world (mid-first century BCE on)

Mediterranean peoples: Augustus on his own achievements, conquests and alliances with peoples (14 CE)

Judeans: Reliefs on the Arch for Titus depicting temple treasures and defeat (late first century CE)

Egyptian perspectives: Oracles of the Lamb and the Potter on Greco-Macedonians and other foreigners (third-second centuries BCE)

Judeans: Hekataios, pseudo-Hekataios and Diodoros on Judean origins and migration with the exodus (first century BCE)

Egyptians: Hekataios of Miletos on encountering Theban priests (late sixth century BCE)

Egyptians: Attic vase paintings, Isocrates and others on king Bousiris and human sacrifice (fifth century BCE on)

Egyptians: Cicero on superstition and animal-worship (mid-first century BCE)

Scythians: Lucian on a competition between Toxaris and Mnesippos about ethnic superiority (mid-second century CE)

Assyrians, Chaldeans, Egyptians, Celts, and others: The Cicero brothers on the nature and effectiveness of divination (mid-first century BCE)

Libyans: Aelian on Libyan views and customs about animals (late second century CE)

Indians: Aelian on Indian views and customs about animals (late second century CE)

Egyptians, Taurians, and Celts: Cicero’s Philus engages in ethnographic discourses for philosophical aims (mid-first century BCE)

Egyptians: Aelian on Egyptian views and customs about animals and animal-worship (late second century CE)

Arabians: Agatharchides and Diodoros on peoples of Arabia Felix on the eastern coast of the Red Sea (second-first centuries BCE)

Assyrian / Babylonian wisdom: Sibyl of Babylon on the superiority of the Judean people (second century BCE)

Indians: Palladios and George on naked philosophers or Brahmans (fourth / ninth centuries CE)

Barbarian peoples: Caesarius of Nazianzos’ and George the Monk’s collection of extraordinary customs (sixth / ninth centuries CE)

Egyptian wisdom: Plato’s Socrates on the discoveries of the Egyptian god Thoth (fourth century BCE)

Phrygians: Alexander Polyhistor, Hermogenes, and others on Phrygian Matters (first century BCE on)

Mediterranean peoples: Pliny the Elder on inventors around the world (first century CE)

Babylonian perspectives: Bel-re’ushu / Berossos on the origins of civilization (late fourth century BCE)

Egyptian wisdom: Cicero, Diodoros and Valerius Maximus on Pythagoras’ and Plato’s supposed journeys to Egypt (first centuries BCE and CE)

Indians: Greek representations of conquest on coins with Alexander of Macedon and Demetrios of Baktria wearing elephant skins (fourth-second century BCE)

Indian wisdom: Plutarch on Alexander, the naked philosophers, and Kalanos (early second century CE)

Persians: Heresy-hunters on Simon Magus and other Magians (second-third centuries CE)

Persian wisdom: Lactantius and others on the Oracles of Hystaspes the Mede (third century CE)

Persian wisdom: Ammianus Marcellinus on Zoroaster, Hystaspes, and the Magians (late fourth century CE)

Egyptian wisdom: Vettius Valens and others on Petosiris and pharaoh Nechepsos as astrologers (first-fifth centuries CE)

Mediterranean peoples: Pomponius Mela on peoples of the known world (mid-first century CE)

Persians: Suda on Zoroaster and on expertise in Magian practice, wailing incantations, and potions (tenth century CE)

Scythians: Lucian on Toxaris’ and Anacharsis’ differing encounters with Greeks (late second century CE)

Lydians, Maionians, Arimians, and Solymians: Strabo on a variety of peoples in Lydia, Phrygia and Pisidia (early first century CE)

Pelasgians: Strabo on a legendary migrating people (early first century CE)

Assyrian wisdom: The Kyranides on a journey to learn from a foreign inscription (fourth century CE or earlier)

Persians: Apuleius of Madaura’s defence against the charge of harmful Magian actions (ca. 158 CE)

Isaurians: Ammianus Marcellinus on their incursions and banditry (late fourth century CE)

Arabians: Ammianus Marcellinus on the customs of Saracens (late fourth century CE)

Barbarian and Judean wisdom: Clement of Alexandria [V] on the sources of Plato’s thought (late second century CE)

Persians: Clement of Alexandria [IV] on the elements among Greek philosophers and Persian Magians (late second century CE)

Taurians and Greeks: Clement of Alexandria [III] on human sacrifice (late second century CE)

Egyptians: Clement of Alexandria [II] on Egyptian animal worship as less offensive than Greek customs (late second century CE)

Scythians: Clement of Alexandria [I] on the example of Anacharsis (late second century CE)

Dyrbaians: Ktesias on an extremely just people between Baktria and India (early fourth century BCE)

Amazons, Tibarenians, and Mossynoikians: Apollonios of Rhodes on a voyage to the Kolchians (third century BCE)

Persians: Xanthos on the Magians’ supposed incest and on Zoroaster’s date (fifth century BCE)

Troglodytes: Graffiti and inscriptions from the Red Sea area thanking Pan / Min for rescue from Cave-dwellers (second century BCE)

Trojans, Lelegians, and Kilikians: Homer and Strabo on legendary peoples and migrations in the Troad (early first century CE)

Persians: Matthew and Luke-Acts on two contrasting approaches to Magians (late first century CE)

Persians: Pliny on the dissemination of Magian skill to the peoples of the world (first century CE)

Judean wisdom: Pseudo-Clement on a journey to Peter the Judean sage (third century CE and on)

Celts: Livy on legends of Gallic migrations south of the Alps into Italy (late first century BCE)

Parthians: Panamara inscription on Zeus’ miraculous actions against invading Parthians (ca. 39 BCE)

Celts: Kyzikos monument with Herakles clubbing a Galatian (278/277 BCE)

Celts: Parthenios on wife abductions in the Galatian invasion (first century BCE)

Celts: Thyatira inscription for a son rescued by the god Apollo out from under “the mob of Galatians” (276 BCE)

Celts: Priene inscription on Galatian “impiety” and “savagery” during the invasion (ca. 278-270 BCE)

Barbarian peoples: Nymphodoros, Nikolaos, and others with collections of paradoxical customs (third century BCE on)

Romans: Dionysios on the supposed Roman refusal of barbarian and Phrygian customs (late first century BCE)

Mysians, Galatians, Pisidians, and others: Strabo on relations among Anatolian peoples (early first century CE)

Celts and Germans: Diodoros, Dionysios, Strabo, and Dio on distinguishing them (first centuries BCE and CE)

Bithynians, Mariandynians, Paphlagonians, and others: Strabo on temple-states and peoples near his Pontic homeland (early first century CE)

Cappadocians: Strabo on their temple-states and supposed desire for subservience (early first century CE)

Indians, Ethiopians, and Celts: Dio of Prusa critiques foreign imports and luxury (late first century CE)

Indians: Dio of Prusa on the Indians’ superior mode of life (late first century CE)

Persian, Egyptian, Indian, and Celtic wisdom: Dio of Prusa on philosophers’ roles in leadership (late first century CE)

Getians, Scythians, and Goths: Jordanes on their supposed origins and achievements (mid-sixth century CE)

Persians: Dio of Prusa on a supposedly Zoroastrian myth (late first century CE)

Scythians and Getians: Dio of Prusa on inter-ethnic encounters at Olbia and on Getian Matters (late first century CE)

Ethnic diversity in Alexandria: Dio of Prusa on the cross-roads of the world (late first century CE)

Parthians and Scythians: Julius Africanus on barbarian military techniques (early third century CE)

Parthians: Arrian on their Scythian origins (second century CE)

Iberians: Appian on Viriathus and resistance by Lusitanians (early second century CE)

Scythians: Adventures of Andrew and Matthias among the Man-eaters as ethnographic fiction (third-fifth centuries CE)

Libyans / Africans: Tacitus on Tacfarinas and resistance by Numidians, Maurians, and Musulamians (early second century CE)

Libyans / Africans: Pliny the Elder on various peoples and strange customs (first century CE)

Finnish Institute at Athens presentation – ‘You are the bandit!’: Criminalizing Conquered Peoples, and Some Retorts

Cretans and Cilicians: Athenians, Rhodians, and Romans pair “banditry” with imperial control (fifth-second centuries BCE)

Northern peoples: Inscriptions on barbarians as bandits (second-third centuries CE)

Aitolians: Thucydides on barbarous Greeks (late fifth century BCE)

Barbarians and Greeks: Thucydides theorizes the shift from barbarian banditry to settled civilization (late fifth century BCE)

Scythian wisdom: Curtius Rufus on the Scythian elder’s speech about Alexander the bandit (first century CE)

Egyptian diasporas: Herodotos on legends about Kolchians and customs of circumcision (mid-fifth century BCE)

Pelasgian diasporas: Hekataios of Miletos and Herodotos on legends of migration, language, and influence (mid-fifth century BCE)

Indians: Ktesias on Indian Matters via Photios, Pliny the Elder, and Aelian (early fourth century BCE)

Indians, Ethiopians and others: Pliny the Elder on “unbelievable” peoples (first century CE)

Assyrians, Medes and Persians: Ktesias on Persian Matters via Diodoros and Photios (early fourth century BCE)

Scythians and Ethiopians: Agatharchides and Diodoros theorize about the effects of climate (second-first centuries CE)

Ethiopians: Agatharchides and Diodoros on lifestyles and diets in the extreme south (second-first centuries BCE)

Judean diasporas: Differing perspectives on violent clashes between Judeans and Greeks in Libya and Egypt under Trajan, ca. 115-117 CE (second-fourth centuries CE)

Babylonian diasporas: Josephos and others on legends of migration from Babel (first-second centuries CE)

Judean diasporas: Josephos on conflicts in Babylonia, ca. 40-66 CE (late first century CE)

Ichthyophagians: Nearchos and Agatharchides on Fish-eaters around the Arabian Sea (fourth-first centuries BCE)

Baktrians, Sogdians, and some “completely barbarous” eastern peoples: Strabo (early first century CE)

Parthians: Strabo on Scythian origins and military success (early first century CE)

Parthians: Trogus on the origins and developments of an empire (first century BCE)

Daans, Kadousians, Hyrkanians, and Sakians: Strabo on peoples east of the Caspian Sea (first century CE)

Itureans among Arabians: Strabo and Josephos on a supposed bandit-people (first century CE)

Germans and Sarmatians: Josephos on impulsive and violent northerners (late first century CE)

Idumeans: Josephos on the Edomites’ origins and relations with Judeans (late first century CE)

Idumean diasporas: Inscriptions and papyri (second century BCE-third century CE)

Judean diasporas: Josephos on tensions with Greeks in Syria, the Decapolis, and Alexandria ca. 59-66 CE (late first century CE)

Indian wisdom: Josephos integrates Indians into Eleazar’s Masada speech (late first century CE)

Samaritans: Josephos on Chuthean origins and relations with Judeans over centuries (late first century CE)

Indian wisdom: Naked philosophers and wise diviners in the Alexander Romance (fourth century CE and earlier)

Egyptian wisdom: Alexander Romance on king Nektanebos the astrologer and diviner (fourth century CE and earlier)

Babylonian and Persian wisdom: Kleitarchos on Chaldeans and Magians (late fourth-third centuries BCE)

Barbarians and Greeks: Eratosthenes challenges the dichotomy (third century BCE)

Egyptians: Achilles Tatius and Dio Cassius on man-eating cowherds / bandits (second-third century CE)

Barbarians and Greeks: Dionysios theorizes the blurry lines (late first century BCE)

Iberians, Albanians and others of the Caucasus area: Strabo (early first century CE)

Judean diasporas: Philo on conflicts with Greeks at Alexandria and on rebellious Egyptians (mid-first century CE)

Romans: Dionysios on Roman origins and legends of Greek and Pelasgian migrations to Italy (late first century BCE)

Celts: Cicero on Gauls and the link between imperial conquest and negative stereotypes (mid-first century BCE)

Maiotians, Bosporians, Kaukasians, and other Pontic peoples: Strabo on northern Asia (early first century CE)

Sicilians and other Greeks: Cicero’s praise for Sicilians in the prosecution of Verres (mid-first century BCE)

Phoenicians and Sardinians: Cicero’s ethnic invective in defending Marcus Scaurus (mid-first century BCE)

Celts: Cicero’s ethnic invective against Gauls in defending Fonteius (mid-first century BCE)

Scythians: Aischines’ ethnic invective against Demosthenes (mid-fourth century BCE)

Judean diasporas: Josephos’ citation of documents on Asia Minor and Libya under Julius Caesar and Augustus (late first century CE)

Egyptian and Ethiopian diasporas: Diodoros on competing legends of migration and colonization (mid-first century BCE)

Judeans, “Asiatics”, and Greeks: Cicero’s ethnic invective aimed at eastern witnesses against Flaccus (mid-first century BCE)

Judeans: Trogus on contributions of Joseph and Moses and on the exodus (first century BCE)

Greeks, Barbarians, Judeans, and Christians: Eusebios’ framing of a way of life (early fourth century CE)

Egyptians: Dio Cassius’ speech by Octavian on the “effeminate” Antony (early third century CE)

Celts: Dio Cassius on spirited and untrustworthy Galatians (early third century CE)

Judeans: Dio Cassius and Roman elite attitudes (early third century CE)

Persian, Indian, and Judean wisdom: Klearchos of Soloi on Magian precedence (fourth century BCE)

Judeans: Kleomedes denigrates Epicurus and Judeans (second century CE)

Judeans: Ignatius on Judaizing and Christianizing (early second century CE)

Judeans and Celts: Various authors on Claudius’ actions against foreigners in the 40s CE (second / third centuries CE

Mediterranean peoples: Artemidoros theorizes foreign elements in dreams (second century CE)

Syrian perspectives: Lucian self-identifies as “barbarian” and “Assyrian” (mid-second century CE)

Libyan perspectives: Cornelius Fronto self-identifies as a “barbarian” and Libyan nomad (mid-second century CE)

Libyan perspectives: Apuleius self-identifies as a barbarian and Numidian / Gaetulian (mid-second century CE)

Persians, Spartans, and Athenians: Platonic author on the superiority of the Persians (fourth century BCE)

Indian wisdom: Apuleius on the amazing naked philosophers and Pythagoras’ journeys (mid-second century CE)

Judeans, Syrians, Celts, Scythians and others: Plutarch on the “barbarian” origins of fearing the gods, or “superstition” (early second century CE)

Judeans, Syrians, and Egyptians: Epiktetos engages with ethnographic discourses for philosophical aims (mid-first century CE)

Judeans, Egyptians, and Magians: Various authors on Tiberius’ actions against foreign practices 17-19 CE (first-third centuries CE)

Judeans, Egyptians, and others: Seneca on the “superstitions” of foreigners (mid-first century CE)

Judeans, Africans, and Germans: Columella on the limits of environmental theory (first century CE)

Judeans: Valerius Maximus on the 139 BCE expulsion with “Chaldeans” (early first century CE)

Idumeans and Judeans: Ptolemy the historian on the difference (late first century BCE)

Judeans and Thracians: Hermippos of Smyrna on their influence on Pythagoras (early second century BCE)

Judean wisdom: Josephos on philosophical sects among Judeans (late-first century CE)

Greeks and Judeans: “Hellenizing” and “Judaizing” in 2 Maccabees (first century BCE)

Persians and Medes: Thucydides on Medizing (late-fifth century BCE)

Greeks and other peoples: Paul’s Judean stereotypes about non-Judeans (mid-first century CE)

Egyptians and Canaanites: Wisdom of Solomon on worship of animals and images (first century BCE)

Judeans, Syrians, Indians, and others: Porphyry of Tyre on abstinence from meat (third century CE)

Barbarian wisdom: Porphyry of Tyre’s Neoplatonic perspective (third century CE)

Indian wisdom: Nearchos, Megasthenes, and Arrian on the sages Dandamis and Kalanos (fourth century BCE-second century CE)

Judean, Indian, Babylonian, and Egyptian wisdom: Numenius the Platonic philosopher (mid-second century CE)

Illyrians, Pannonians, and other peoples: Strabo (early first century CE)

Getians, Dacians, and Scythians: Strabo (early first century CE)

Barbarian wisdom: Cornutus on early humanity’s Stoic understanding of the cosmos (mid-first century CE)

Mediterranean peoples: Sextus Empiricus engages with ethnographic discourses for philosophical aims (second-third centuries CE)

Western peoples beyond the pillars of Herakles (and up): Lucian’s “A True Story” and ethnographic fiction (late second century CE)

Northern peoples: Antonios Diogenes’ Wonders Beyond Thule and ethnographic fiction (second century CE / ninth century CE)

Indians: Iamboulos and Diodoros on a utopian island beyond India (mid-first century BCE)

Arabians / Nabateans: Diodoros on Nabatean customs and freedom (mid-first century BCE)

Judean and Israelite diasporas: Inscriptional evidence (second century BCE-third century CE)

Babylonians: Diodoros on Chaldeans’ astrology and divination (mid-first century BCE)

Scythians, Amazons, and Persians: Isocrates on the superiority of the Athenian people (early fourth century BCE)

Mossynoikians in Pontos: Xenophon and others on the “most barbarous” people (early fourth century BCE)

Persians: Xenophon and an anonymous author on royal customs and Cyrus (early fourth century BCE / second century BCE)

Celts and Germans: Plutarch’s ethnographic digressions in the Lives (early second century CE)

Scythians, Amazons, and Hyperboreans: Diodoros on some northerners (mid-first century BCE)

Indians: Diodoros on environment, customs and social organization (mid-first century BCE)

Britons and Iernians (Irish): Julius Caesar, Pytheas, and Strabo on customs including eating human flesh (early first century CE)

Celts and Ligurians: Strabo on peoples south of the Alps (early first century CE)

Indian wisdom: Philostratos on Apollonios of Tyana’s journeys to barbarian lands (early third century CE)

Mysians, Cilicians, Galatians, and Thracians: Polybios on the mixed composition of Antiochos IV Epiphanes’ army (second century BCE)

Egyptian diasporas: Manetho, Josephos and others on legends of migration concerning Hyksos and Judeans (third century BCE and on)

Ethnic diversity in Libya / Africa: Sallust on legends of migration (mid-first century BCE)

Phoenician diasporas: Ephoros on Kadmos and legends of migration to Boiotia (mid-fourth century BCE)

Celts: Strabo on peoples northwest of the Alps (early first century CE)

Ethiopians: Diodoros on their claims, appearance, and customs (mid-first century BCE)

Egyptians: Diodoros on the origins of civilization and on Egyptian views (mid-first century BCE)

Scythians: Greek depictions of Scythian archers on Attic pottery (sixth century BCE)

Amazons: Greek artistic depictions of a female warrior people (fourth century BCE to second century CE)

Amazons: Strabo on their customs and northern location (late first century CE)