Roger Johnson
History 101
Thoughtpeice
Barbarians, not as bad as you think
Barbarians are known to be ruthless. They are the ones who dominate civilizations with no remorse, and savagely bring destruction upon whoever is in their path. But after reading the sources given, it made me think a little different about these so called savages. Maybe they weren’t all that bad after all.
In the Guzman document he talks about how these barbarians received their bad name. Most of the early sources written were written by civilized societies that were at war with the barbarians. They were very biased and didn’t say anything flattering. Barbarians were illiterate so they could not keep record of the way they thought things went down. The barbarians probably could have justified why they did what they did.
In the Guzman document he talks about the steppe nomads of Inner Asia or Central Asia, or the Mongols. He talks of how it was a very tough place to live, and one of the most inhospitable places in the world. The soil in this place was too cold, and dry for agriculture. So naturally the people that lived in this wasteland wanted something better. Just because people already lived in the more hospitable places didn’t mean they couldn’t join in on the fun. So as nomads they wondered for food and a descent place to live. They wondered until they met up with coastal civilizations.
Guzman goes into great detail about how the barbarians used horses. The horse dramatically changed the lifestyle of the barbarians. At first they used horses for food and milk, and then used bigger horses for riding. They could herd their herds faster without getting tired, and also have larger herds covering more land. The horse also made it easier for them to move from place to place, which they did often. The horse was the center of pastoral life on the steppes, and they could live off of their animals. Also the horse became handy for their military. They fought with cavalry and...