Saracen: Difference between revisions

The ''[[Augustan History|Historia Augusta]]'' carries an account of a letter to the [[Roman senate]], ascribed to [[Aurelian]], that describes the [[Palmyra|Palmyrian]] queen [[Zenobia]] as:

"I might say such was the fear that this woman inspired in the peoples of the east and also the Egyptians that neither [[Arab]]es, nor Saraceni, nor [[Armenia]]ns moved against her."<ref name="retso3"/> Another early [[Byzantine]] source chronicling the Saracens are the 6th century works by [[John Malalas|Ioannes Malalas]].<ref name="retso3"/> The difference between the two accounts of Saracens is that Malalas saw Palmyrans and all inhabitants of the Syrian desert as Saracens and not Arabs, while the ''Historia Augusta'' saw the Saracens as not being subjects of Zenobia and distinct from Palmyrans and Arabs.<ref name="retso3"/> Writing at the end of the fourth century [[Ammianus Marcellinus]], a historian of [[Julian the Apostate]], notes that the term Saraceni designating "desert-dwellers" of the Syrian desert had replaced ''Arabes scenitae''.<ref name="retso3"/> After the time of Ammianus the Saracens were known as warriors of the desert.<ref>Retso pg.523</ref> The term Saracen, popular in both Greek and Roman literature, over time came to be associated with Arabs and Assyrians as well, and carried a definitive negative connotation.<ref name="retso5"/>

 

The [[Sassanid|Middle Persian]] correspondent terms for Saracens are ''tazigan'' and ''tayyaye''; who were located by [[Stephanus of Byzantium]] in the 6th century at the [[Lakhmid]] capital city of [[Al-Hirah]].<ref>Retso pg.493</ref>