Romans, Barbarians and Provincials: Social Boundaries and Class Conflict in Late Roman Gaul

The Romans traditionally characterised their identity in very simple, very stark terms. Romans were defined by their romanitas (Roman culture) which included the use of Latin, regard for classical Latin literature, adherence to Roman law and ancestral mores and even the custom of having three names. Everyone else – everyone who was not a Roman and did not share in this culture – was a barbarian (a word which could, but need not always, be pejorative).[1] All the disparate peoples living beyond Rome's frontiers were conceptualised by Romans in terms of their foreignness and their cultural distance from the civilised ideal of romanitas.[2] By the same measure, all those who lived within the frontiers of Rome's empire were, theoretically, united by their common participation in Roman civilisation and culture.