The Mary Beard Controversy: Race and Roman Britain | Dr. Rebecca Futo Kennedy
By Nick Barksdale (host) and Rebecca Futo Kennedy
Abstract: Dr Futo Kennedy describes the 2017 controversy around the presence of non-white soldiers in Roman armies stationed in Britain which Mary Beard and other scholars were drawn into. She states that it is a well-established fact that a diverse range of soldiers from across the Mediterranean and beyond were stationed in Roman Britain, partly because of the Roman state’s desire to avoid the use of indigenous troops in the provinces, where they were liable to become a force for instability and the undermining of Roman authority. Futo Kennedy goes on to dispute the idea that the concept of’ whiteness’ should even be applied to the ancient Mediterranean.
Youtube video on: Study of Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Youtube. Posted 11 September, 2020. 11 minutes and 14 seconds.
View on: Youtube