I'm writing an AU modern-day fanfic from a canon set during the reign of the Roman Empire Republic (ETA: Specifically, between 73-71 BC) and I have several interdependent questions
( Read more... )
As I recall, Syria was a Roman province carved out of the western part of what had been the Assyrian Empire. But the Assyrian Empire had fallen, some 500 years previously, to the Neo-Babylonians, who in turn fell to the Persians, who fell to Alexander the Great's Greek/Macedonian empire. Before the Romans showed up, I think it was being run as a Hellenic successor-state after the break-up of Alexander's empire.
So someone regarded as 'Syrian' in Imperial Rome would probably be from modern Syria, but might be ethnically Greek. (You can read about the recent decline of Greek culture in the Levant in William Dalrymple's From the Holy Mountain.) Only the eastern parts of Assyria had been in modern Iraq; I would regard it as a bad mistake to regard them as interchangeable.
I know a woman whose family comes from Iraq, and she calls herself Assyrian. However, I'm not sure #1 is true. It may depend on the period of the Roman Empire you're talking about. There's an incident in the New Testament referring to a person from modern-day coastal Syria as Syro-Phoenecian, and there was a Roman province called Syria.
That's Roman Republic, not Empire. This was before Pompey conquered Syria, so in this era it's Coele-Syria, a kingdom ruled by Seleucid Greeks and populated by Greeks, Phoenicians, Assyrians, Jews, and others.
So essentially, without more specificity, he could conceiveably be any of those ethnicities. I see. Thanks.
Well, for the purposes of my story, I'd prefer for him to be Middle Eastern rather than Greek or culturally Jewish, etc.. So if he were Iraqi, is that how he'd refer to himself? Or Iranian, would he say "Persian?" (I did once encounter an Iranian man who referred to himself as such, in fact.)
At what point do you diverge from history? Did the Islamic conquest and arabisation take place? Or is your area still Christian? Or does Christianity not exist?
After the disintegration of the Assyrian empire the area was ruled by four or five different empires.
It's not exactly a divergence, I'm basically transplanting the characters from then to now. Their canon time period though is roughly 73-71 BC, and I've edited the post to include that.
ETA: Also, the character/canon only refers to Roman Gods, not Allah or Jehovah or Christ, nor any other non-Abrahamic pantheon.
My understanding is that the largest ethnic group in Syria in 70 BC were the Arameans. They were a Semitic group related to the Hebrews, Phoenicians and Canaanites. Their native language, Aramaic, became one of the linguae francae of the Middle East, used by both the Assyrian Empire and the Persian Empire which replaced it
( ... )
Comments 43
So someone regarded as 'Syrian' in Imperial Rome would probably be from modern Syria, but might be ethnically Greek. (You can read about the recent decline of Greek culture in the Levant in William Dalrymple's From the Holy Mountain.) Only the eastern parts of Assyria had been in modern Iraq; I would regard it as a bad mistake to regard them as interchangeable.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Well, for the purposes of my story, I'd prefer for him to be Middle Eastern rather than Greek or culturally Jewish, etc.. So if he were Iraqi, is that how he'd refer to himself? Or Iranian, would he say "Persian?" (I did once encounter an Iranian man who referred to himself as such, in fact.)
Reply
Reply
Reply
After the disintegration of the Assyrian empire the area was ruled by four or five different empires.
Reply
ETA: Also, the character/canon only refers to Roman Gods, not Allah or Jehovah or Christ, nor any other non-Abrahamic pantheon.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment