Roman policy towards migrants, refugees and foreigners in general, as the more or less legendary tradition of the origins of Rome already reveals, was always characterized by a great openness and indeed by a completely unique ability not only to welcome and integrate foreigners in the civic body (unlike what happened in the Greek world, in which citizens could essentially only be born such), as much as to make them feel fully Roman and proud of it in a short time. All this, however, not for humanitarian reasons, but in a perspective of pragmatic utilitarianism which saw foreigners as a precious resource for demographic strengthening and for the acquisition of new behavioral models, ideas, knowledge, skills and competences to be valorised and exploited.
La politica romana verso migranti, rifugiati e stranieri più in generale, come già rivela la tradizione più o meno leggendaria delle origini di Roma, fu sempre caratterizzata da una grande apertura e anzi da una capacità del tutto unica non solo di accogliere ed integrare gli stranieri nel corpo civico (diversamente da quanto accadeva nel mondo greco, in cui cittadini si poteva sostanzialmente soltanto nascere), quanto di farli sentire nel breve tempo pienamente romani e orgogliosi di esserlo. Tutto questo, però, non per ragioni umanitarie, ma in una prospettiva di utilitarismo pragmatico che vedeva negli stranieri una risorsa preziosa per il rafforzamento demografico e per l'acquisizione di nuovi modelli comportamentali, idee, conoscenze, abilità e competenze da valorizzare e sfruttare.
Barzano', A., Migranti e rifugiati in Roma antica, <<NUOVA SECONDARIA>>, 2023; 40 (7): 93-96 [https://hdl.handle.net/10807/254934]
Migranti e rifugiati in Roma antica
Barzano', Alberto
2023
Abstract
Roman policy towards migrants, refugees and foreigners in general, as the more or less legendary tradition of the origins of Rome already reveals, was always characterized by a great openness and indeed by a completely unique ability not only to welcome and integrate foreigners in the civic body (unlike what happened in the Greek world, in which citizens could essentially only be born such), as much as to make them feel fully Roman and proud of it in a short time. All this, however, not for humanitarian reasons, but in a perspective of pragmatic utilitarianism which saw foreigners as a precious resource for demographic strengthening and for the acquisition of new behavioral models, ideas, knowledge, skills and competences to be valorised and exploited.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.