2021

Quaestiones Medii Aevi Novae

Rocznik: 2021 | Tom: 26

artykuł naukowy

angielski

EN Belligerence, perceived as a tendency to unrestrained violence, almost bestiality, is a trait that is often ascribed to nomads by the literary traditions of the more developed peoples who come into contact with the steppe-dwellers. Byzantine literature is no exception. Among the Byzantine authors (mainly chroniclers, historians and rhetoricians) mentioned in this study, there is a conviction that violence and cruelty exceeding any measure is a natural, inborn trait of nomads. The Byzantine characteristics of nomads, although often part of the accounts of real events, can hardly be considered free from biases. Their authors aimed not only to describe the true qualities of the “nomadic barbarians” but also, sometimes mainly, to distinguish civilized “Romans” from savage “Scythians”. Ascribing them unrestrained violence and cruelty would serve not only to exclude nomadic communities from the group of civilized peoples, but also to put them at the antipodes of Byzantine identity. The image of a nomad was therefore a tool for creating one’s own image of the Byzantines. Apart from the spheres of identity and religion, however, there was a world of brutal political facts that the empire could not ignore. Despite their great aversion to violence, the Byzantine elite had to respond to it. A nomad, allegedly overly inclined to abuse the violence, then became very useful as a tool of its outsourcing. In this way, the Byzantines could settle their political interests without dirtying their conscience and hands.

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https://qman.com.pl/roczniki/t-26-2021/

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