Hate Speech and its Limits in Classical Greek and Roman Sources

BUIS, EMILIANO JERÓNIMO

Florencia

Congreso; International Conference *Religion, Hateful Expression and Violence*; 2022

Center for International Law and Policy (CILRAP)

In this paper, I will attempt to find some textual examples of *hate speech* in classical antiquity, with the purpose of analyzing them in a way that could be illuminating to understand the current scope and limits of the notion. Attention here will be limited to Greek and Roman civilizations in pre-Christian times, since other contributions in the conference will enlarge the time scope and include religious hate speech in early Christian sources. Firstly, I intend to offer a short description of the nature of freedom of speech in ancient Greece and Republican Rome, taking into account in particular the presence of legal restrictions; in section 2 I will focus on the creation of *enmity* and the negative description of adversaries, especially taking into consideration the ancient Greek and Latin vocabulary for *hate*. Since there is a symptomatic lack of reference of these terms when inciting war, I will then proceed to explain in section 3 that, when it is possible to identify it, the emotion which is more frequently referred to in texts promoting violence is anger, since it becomes easier to justify it as a reaction to a previous injustice. At the same time, (section 4) I will show that religion has played a little role in endorsing this anger, which is better described as political antagonism. This inference will allow me to conclude (section 5) that it does not seem to be necessary to identify arguments of hate to identify a speech that can incite severe ferocity against innocent minorities; in rhetorical terms (as we see in ancient Greek and Roman literary sources) sometimes the mere reference to rage and irritation hides a discourse of profound animosity that obscures pre-existing antipathy and helps to support an apparent legitimacy of hegemonic imposition. Similarly, the rhetorical use of political reasons camouflages in many cases the religious nature behind campaigns of extermination.