ABSTRACT

What is the link between Syriac and Syrian identity in the later Roman Empire? When did self-named Suryaye form an ethnic or ‘national’ consciousness based on shared language? These questions are complicated ones, and they have inspired much discussion among scholars of later Roman Syria. This chapter therefore explores current debates and perspectives regarding formulations of Syrian ethnicity and identity in the later Roman Empire. It concludes by suggesting that certain speakers of Syriac did express a Syrian ethnic consciousness.