Roman men

[shoshi]

I read that the English word Barbarian comes from Barba. the Latin word for beard. Because the Romans enemies were bearded men. So the Roman men were shaven? Or maybe just the soldiers were because armies do not allow beards? So they called their enemies barbarians or bearded ones.

 

[Moonglow]

There were many bearded soldiers in ancient Rome's armies...
Late in the Roman Empire, the word “barbarian” came to refer to all foreigners who lacked Greek and Roman traditions, especially the various tribes and armies putting pressure on Rome's borders. May 19, 2016

Where did the word “barbarian” come from? - HISTORY​

https://www.history.com › news › where-did-the-word-ba...

 

[Muhammed]

I read that the English word Barbarian comes from Barba. the Latin word for beard. Because the Romans enemies were bearded men. So the Roman men were shaven? Or maybe just the soldiers were because armies do not allow beards? So they called their enemies barbarians or bearded ones.

The soldiers didn't merely shave off their facial hair, they were required to shave their entire body with a strigil.

They would coat their skin with olive oil and scrape it off.

 

[AMart]

The soldiers didn't merely shave off their facial hair, they were required to shave their entire body with a strigil.

They would coat their skin with olive oil and scrape it off.

Probably for health and sanitary reasons.

 

[odanny]

 

[Muhammed]

Probably for health and sanitary reasons.

Yes, for sanitary reasons. It's not like the ancient Roman legions could just wake up up take a warm shower every morning with soap and water. And of course body lice loves body hair.

Also for strategic and disciplinary reasons.

During vicious hand to hand combat in battle, having a beard or long hair that the enemy can grab onto and use as leverage to kill you is a disadvantage.

 

[Vagabond63]

The soldiers didn't merely shave off their facial hair, they were required to shave their entire body with a strigil.

They would coat their skin with olive oil and scrape it off.

Strigils were not used to shave, Romans "bathed" by going to a "sauna" first, then oil was applied by slaves and strigils used to scrape away any dirt and sweat. Romans shaved using a combination of pumice stones and tools called novacillae

 

[Moonglow]

Beards were regularly worn by Romans during the early days of the Republic, yet became much less fashionable during the mid and late Republic since Scipio Africanus did not have a beard.

Hairstyles in Ancient Rome, the military specifically. Did ...​

 

[Pellinore]

"Barbarian" comes from the Greek. It was the word they gave to people who didn't speak Greek, because to them, all of the other languages sounded like nonsense, as if they were just saying "bar bar bar."

And speaking of Greek, it was Alexander the Great who introduced the idea that all soldiers should be clean-shaven, because beard can be used tactically in hand-to-hand combat as something your opponent can grab on to. He was clean-shaven, and ordered all of his generals and men to be clean-shaven, and then it became the fashion. The fashion came and went, as it does, throughout several stages of Greece and Rome, but it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the word 'barbarian.'

 

[Disir]

I read that the English word Barbarian comes from Barba. the Latin word for beard. Because the Romans enemies were bearded men. So the Roman men were shaven? Or maybe just the soldiers were because armies do not allow beards? So they called their enemies barbarians or bearded ones.

Actually, anyone that didn't speak Greek was a barbarian because that's what it sounded like to the Greeks (bar bar bar). The original "barbarians" were Asian. It has nothing to do with hair.