One of my friend supports the idea that in ancient times he would side with barbarians no matter what because, whatever they did, they didn't massacre, pillage and exterminate whole populations like Romans did. His theory is that in order to do so (at least in a large scale) you need to function under a civilization (I guess to coordinate, large scale orchestrate such things etc.).
I am kind of a Roman buff, so I guess I am biased. Still, I readily acknowledge that under our modern standards most of the things Romans did are immoral or just plainly wrong (although I think that it is falling a bit into "presentism" and judging people from other eras under our current moral compass, but ok).
What strikes me as weird is considering that barbarians hold a higher moral ground to the Roman Empire. Besides battles were they killed enemy soldiers, aren't there well documented events where barbarians murdered and pillaged innocent people exactly like the Romans would have (maybe with a bit less of rational efficiency, if anything, but not that different)? Especially considering that I understand anyone NOT Roman was thought to be a "barbarian"?
Thanks a lot!
Pillage and mass murder and/or enslavement were standard things in the Classical world, especially after a siege. This behaviour was not peculiar to the Romans. Mithridates VI of Pontus, Boudicca of the Iceni, the Gauls in 52 BC and the Germans under Arminius are all prominent examples of the mass killing of Romans, though the latter two are on a lesser scale than the first couple because there were less civilians to get a hold of. The Greeks and Macedonians also sacked cities just like the Romans did. The sacking of cities taken after siege is pretty standard stuff throughout history.
Everybody did it, it's just that the Romans tended to win all their wars, so it was always them doing the sacking and pillaging and "crimes against humanity" if you like. The Gauls and Germans were every bit as warlike as the Romans, and just as the Romans often (not always, eg. the surviving Nervii at the Sabis in 57 BC) behaved brutally towards those they defeated, they got the same treatment from the Gauls and Germans whenever they had the chance. Germans were supposedly known for burning captured legionaries alive in wicker cages, for instance. If, during the Republican and Principate period, the Gauls and Germans had been able to beat the Romans in wars and take their cities (which they lacked the technical ability to do) then we'd be reading about the same sorts of crimes committed against Romans by the innocent, noble barbarians of your friends imagination.
Tl;dr Tell your friend to read up on the revolt of the Iceni under Boudicca. Textbook ethnic cleansing and mass murder of "collaborators", with barbarian perpetrators and Roman victims.