1. INTRODUCTION: THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

The Byzantine Empire was the Roman Empire as it survived in the East (that is, in the Balkans and the Middle East) from the time of Constantine I (306) to the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453: a period of well over 1000 years!.  It was a society characterized, on the one hand by Christianity and, on the other by an autocratic political system in which the emperor was God's representative on earth, destined to rule the whole of the universe until the end of time.  It was a civilization that played a fundamental role in the development of Christianity and the incorporation of classical Greek ideas into the framework of Christianity.  It developed a society that was remarkably socially integrated, and--for all its autocracy--one that had many fundamentally democratic institutions and ideals.  It was sophisticated and--for most of its history--remarkably wealthy, the image that the early Medieval West sought to imitate.  The Byzantine Empire was circled about by powerful enemies, who often forced the empire to fight wars on two fronts.  Byzantium was not successful in all these engagements, and yet she outlasted most of her adversaries and developed diplomatic methods that were to be imitated later by the emerging states of the Latin West.  At the same time, Byzantium could boast a culture that scholars are still seeking fully to understand.  It was one of considerable complexity and sophistication, refinement and a love for detail that have not always been popular with Western observers.  Nonetheless, Byzantine civilization has much to teach us and much we can contemplate as we seek to shape our lives and our world in a epoch marked by remarkable change and unimaginable dangers.

A. Byzantium was the "Third Way" in Western Civilization

1. Along with the Catholic West and the Islamic East, Byzantium was one of the three "daughter civilizations" of the classical world.

2. It provides a different, unique, interpretation of the Western Tradition, nether based on Islam nor on the traditions of the medieval and modern West.

3. Byzantium is often cited for its "contributions" in saving early Medieval Europe from the threat of the Arab invasions, and it is praised for "keeping the knowledge of classical civilization" alive until the West was "ready to receive it."  Yet, these concepts are all from a western European perspective; these are things the Byzantines themselves would not have considered very significant.  Are there other, important things we can learn from the Byzantines about how life might be lived?

B. Many peoples in today's world, trace their cultural roots (wholly or in part) to Byzantium:

1. Slavs, especially the East (Russian, Ukranian, etc.) and Southern (Serbs, Bulgarians, etc.) Slavs.

2. Greeks

3. Romanians

4. Less so -- but still in important measure -- Arabs, Turks, Albanians

C. Generally speaking,  Byzantine civilization has not been appreciated in the West, and it has been frequently condemned, from the time of the Crusades onward.

1. At the time of the Crusades, the Byzantines were regarded as "schismatics" who had to be brought (by force if necessary) into the church of Rome; the Byzantines did not cooperate well with the Crusaders and hostility increased.

2.   Byzantines -- and their "descendants" -- still recall with horror the Crusader sack of Constantinople in 1204 and the brutal occupation of Byzantine lands that occurred thereafter.

3. In later years, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Byzantine Empire was looked down upon by westerners, as a "failed" political system.

4. From the time of the Enlightenment (18th century) western scholars viewed Byzantium as an essentially religious society, which they disliked, and accordingly condemned.

5. Byzantine studies essentially never recovered from that attack, although the gradual appreciation of Byzantine art as worthy of attention (largely in the 1920s and beyond) has changed the climate somewhat.

a. Byzantine studies flourish in Russia and France, and to a lesser extent in Germany, Italy, and Greece.

b. In the United States, however, Byzantium is treated as a marginal state with little of interest for scholars looking at more "important" historical societies.      

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