Used of all cultures not assimilated into Roman culture. Thus it could mean areas outside the Roman Empire, and also newly conquered outlying provinces. Usually derogatory. If a coin is referred to as "barbarous" it means that it was produced unofficially (that is, not made in an Imperial mint) in an outlying area of the Empire. Barbarous coins are often very unlike official coins. The Romans got this word from the Greeks, who reckoned that anyone who spoke a language other than theirs sounded as though they were just going "bar - bar - bar."