Rome, China, and the Barbarians
Ethnographic Traditions and the Transformation of Empires

An exploration of ethnological thought in Greece, Rome, and China and its articulation during 'barbarian' invasion and conquest.

Randolph B. Ford (Author)

9781108473958, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 April 2020

388 pages, 12 maps
23.4 x 16 x 2.5 cm, 0.67 kg

'With the comparison of a Greco-Roman and a Chinese historical work from the period of transition between late antiquity and the early middle ages, Ford's work is groundbreaking in comparative studies. This is accomplished on the basis of an impressive double competence in the study of classical antiquity and Sinology and a comprehensive consideration of multilingual secondary scholarship … the book as a whole represents a remarkable achievement which calls for further research.' Fritz-Heiner Mutschler, Historische Zeitschrift

This book addresses a largely untouched historical problem: the fourth to fifth centuries AD witnessed remarkably similar patterns of foreign invasion, conquest, and political fragmentation in Rome and China. Yet while the Western Roman Empire was never reestablished, China was reunified at the end of the sixth century. Following a comparative discussion of earlier historiographical and ethnographic traditions in the classical Greco-Roman and Chinese worlds, the book turns to the late antique/early medieval period, when the Western Roman Empire 'fell' and China was reconstituted as a united empire after centuries of foreign conquest and political division. Analyzing the discourse of ethnic identity in the historical texts of this later period, with original translations by the author, the book explores the extent to which notions of Self and Other, of 'barbarian' and 'civilized', help us understand both the transformation of the Roman world as well as the restoration of a unified imperial China.

Introduction
1. Ethnography in the Classical Age
2. The Barbarian and Barbarian antitheses
3. Ethnography in a post-Classical Age: the ethnographic tradition in the Wars of Procopius and in the Jin shu ??
4. New Emperors and ethnographic clothes: the representation of Barbarian rulers
5. The confluence of ethnographic discourse and political legitimacy: rhetorical arguments on the legitimacy of Barbarian kingdoms
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], Asian history [HBJF], History [HB]