if you look at all the statues from the ancient period, they all look like celts, so i put forward the greeks and romans were indeed celtsWww@QuestionHome@Com
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Position:Home>History> Were the ancient Greek's and Romans white in colour?Question: Were the ancient Greek's and Romans white in colour!? if you look at all the statues from the ancient period, they all look like celts, so i put forward the greeks and romans were indeed celtsWww@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Hi Tiger!. You are right and you are wrong!. The reason is the Geography of both Empires and the peoples there in!. The Roman Empire,for example had large territorial holdings in Europe and the Mediterranean as far as Iran to the east and the United Kingdom to the west the Netherlands to the north and North Africa to the south!. So, as you can imagine there was a great difference in race and colors, besides Romans never spoke of race you were either Roman or a Barbarian (non Roman)!. Greece in the Archaic Period was made up from independent states, called Polis, or city state!. The polis of Athens included about 2,500 sq kilometres of territory, but other Polis with smaller areas of 250 sq kilometres!. Before the Romans conquered Greece, Greek Society was mainly broken up between free people and Slaves, who were owned by the free people!. Slaves were used as servants and laborers, without any legal rights!. Sometimes the slaves were prisoners of war or bought from foreign slave traders!. Although many slaves lived closely with their owners, few were skilled craftsmen and even fewer were paid!. As Athenian society evolved, free men were divided between Citizens and Metics!. A citizen was born with Athenian parents and were the most powerful group, that could take part in the government of the Polis!. After compulsory service in the army they were expected to be government officials and take part in Jury Service!. A metic was of foreign birth that had migrated to Athens, to either trade or practice a craft!. A metic had to pay taxes and sometimes required to serve in the army!. However, they could never achieve full right s of a Citizen, neither could they own houses or land and were not allowed to speak in law courts!. The majority of Greek states were governed by groups of rich landowners, called aristocrats; this word is derived from 'aristoi', meaning best people!. This was a system known as 'oligarchy' the rule by the few!. Now Tiger do you understand what I mean!. It would be impossible to say for sure what color they were!. Good luck my friend, Cathorio!.Www@QuestionHome@Com They were not Celts!. A simple way to prove this is by language!. Romans spoke Latin, which is the root of all Latin languages!. The Greeks spoke various Hellenic languages, which have, over time, melded into what we now know of as modern Greek!. The Celts spoke a totally different set of languages alltogether!. All of them spoke Indo-European languages, but they were from totally different branches! Another important point is that Greek and Roman Architecture, Art, Sculpture, Tools, Weapons etc are totally different in style to those found among the Celts!. All these factors denote a totally different culture to that of the Celts!. also Greeks and Romans were city and town dwelling peoples, whereas Celts were a tribal people, and often semi nomadic originally!. The Greeks also are a far older race, in terms of recorded history, than the Celts!. In terms of physical appearance, Greeks and Romans would have appeared pretty much the same as Modern Greeks and Italians do now!. They are white, but of Olive skinned, medditeranean appearance!. also, both tend to have bigger, or more hooked noses than celts, the hooked nose is not a common feature among celtic peoples!. DNA testing has also found no link between Greeks, Romans and Celts, other than that they are all broadly Indo European(Aryan) in origin!.Www@QuestionHome@Com The Romans would have been far lighter then the Greeks, in the Archaic period most Greeks, those of Ionian decent (not Asia Minor's Greeks of the classical period but as in Dorian Aeolian and Ionian peoples) would have emigrated from the East and mixed with the local Dorian (possibly from the middle East / Egypt) and the Aeolians (native Greeks), they would have no doubt been darker then then Northern Europeans but lighter then the Eastern peoples!. I think Aristotle claims the Greeks are the perfect colour, not too dark like the Africans/Persians and not as light as the Northern Peoples!. While the Romans would have been lighter their origins are from Northern/Western Europe, and originally migrated South into the Italian Peninsular, where they were conquered by the Etruscans!. Which is why many Romans showed Northern European characteristics, some with Blond or Red hair, though the majority would have been brown haired and more tanned due to intermarriage with Greek and Italian tribes of Italy!. So Romans were partly Celtic/Gallic people, plus as the Empire expanded it would have brought further intermarriages between Italian and Gallic peoples!. The Greeks would have had less intermarriage and would have been darker, though as Alexander the Great was Blond, while not being Greek it shows that traits commonly considered Celtic/Germanic were seen very close to Greece's north!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Roman citizens were from all over the Empire and so were some of the Emporers themselves!. Philip the Arab was a Roman Emporer and he had dark olive skin!. Macrinus the Emporer was Black!. About 25 years ago there was a study that measured Greek and italian airmen against Greek and Roman stautes and guess what, they were nothing like each other!. The same goes for the women who worked in the fields, they look more like Roseanne Barr than they do Madonna!. And yet there is this yearning in us to have ourselves portrayed as titanic athletes or hunters in our art!. Just as Hitler had Leni Riefenstahl and Greta Garbo had Hollywood, so Alexander the Great had his own image maker as well!. He was in the form of a greek Sculptor named Lysipus!. Normally the head on a human fits into the torso at a ratio of 7-8 to 1!. What Lysipus did when he made statues of Alexander, he made it 10-1, he shrank the size of Alexander's head making him look like an American football player or Swartzennegar or something!. Alexander was long haired, quite short and a little deaf!. he often sat in a circle of his courtiers and would strain his neck to hear what was going on!. What Lysipus did was take this deformity and made it look like Alexander was commanding an army in his statues of him!. It was all an image factory!. Julius Ceasar was short and bald, he hated being bald and wore a helmet much of the time to cover it up!. Yet in all of his statues he appears without a helmet and displaying confidence like no other!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Well, they were Europeans so they were probably whiteish in colour, probably on the swarthy side as people from southern Europe mostly are!. Like modern Greeks and Italians I suppose, black hair, brown eyes etc!.Www@QuestionHome@Com the ancient greeks and romans weren't white in colour and they weren't celts they were latin people they were olive in colourWww@QuestionHome@Com They were remarkably like modern Greeks and Italians!. Your 'Celts' is a misused linguistic classification!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Very likely just like Mediterranean people groups today!. Black hair, olive skin, strong features!. The seriously Germanic influence came with invasions after the fall of Rome to the Goths!.Www@QuestionHome@Com I put forward that your a nutter!.!.!.!.lumping romans in with the Celts is an insult to the Celts, who were far more civilized than those brutal blood thirsty war mongersWww@QuestionHome@Com are prople from modern rome and greece white!? yes!. just because it was along time ago doesn't mean the people there now aren't the same!.Www@QuestionHome@Com soprry, not possible to tell whether they wer white or brown or black or something else because we have never seen them!. we were born much after their time!. they might have been celts, that the history books can confirmWww@QuestionHome@Com Probably had great tans as they do now if you have ever visited Italy or Greece!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Pretty much as they are now - olive!.Www@QuestionHome@Com they were white and darker alike!.!.!.since they are further down south!.!.!.!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com weird!!Www@QuestionHome@Com |