Libmonster ID: KG-1310
Author(s) of the publication: S. P. KARPOV

Moscow, Nauka Publ. 1984. 726 p.

The Byzantine state, which existed for more than a thousand years, left a bright and unique mark on the history of world culture. Therefore, it is not surprising that many generations of thinkers and scientists from different countries and peoples turned to the study of the Byzantine civilization. Each of them gave its own interpretation and evaluation, revealing new facets of a huge and significant phenomenon of the culture of Byzantium, the heiress of ancient Rome and the largest power of the European Middle Ages. But, despite the rich historiographical tradition, the reviewed work1 has no analogues. And not only by-

1 Authors ' collective: Z. V. Udaltsova, S. S. Averintsev, V. I. Ukolova, G. L. Kurbatov, E. E. Lipshits, V. V. Kuchma, Z. G. Samodurova, O. R. Borodin, V. V. Bychkov, O. S. Popova, A. I. Komech, A.V. Bank, E. V.

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the fact that it is distinguished by the fundamental nature and panoramic breadth of coverage of the material, integrity and thoughtfulness of the concept. For the first time after a series of preparatory studies, carried out by the executive editor of the publication, corresponding member. Academy of Sciences of the USSR Z. V. Udaltsova 2, created a fact-based typology of Byzantine culture. For the first time, the principle of Marxist-Leninist historicism is consistently applied to the study of all its aspects, when, despite the great source study difficulties, the authors consider the culture of Byzantium not in statics, but in evolution, revealing the specifics of each of the stages of culture formation. This was made possible only by drawing on both the totality of written sources and monuments of material culture, as well as by summarizing the achievements of domestic and recent foreign historiography.

"Culture of Byzantium" is conceived as a three-volume publication covering the IV-XV centuries. Defining its subject, the authors legitimately avoid too broad an interpretation of the very concept of "culture", clearly realizing, however, "the real interrelation and interdependence of the social and cultural development of Byzantium" (p. 6). Since the borders of Byzantium have been very mobile for centuries, it is impossible to unambiguously assess this or that cultural phenomenon as "purely Byzantine" or "not purely Byzantine". By identifying the Greek core of the multiethnic empire, the unity of religion and statehood (p. 8), the authors find the right key to understanding the essence of Byzantine culture, taking into account its influence on rather remote regions. Naturally, any distinction has an element of convention. Overcoming it lies in a more differentiated consideration of the material, in identifying stable epochs and periods of development, which is demonstrated in the first volume of "Byzantine Cultures".

This volume can also be considered as a completely independent work. It is devoted to one big and complex problem: the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages, the birth of a new civilization, the struggle of the most acute ideological contradictions, which took bizarre forms when tradition was felt as an innovation, and innovation sought to be traditional.

In the collective work, the authors did not try to create an ideal model of the Byzantine civilization. It was more justified to consider such cultural spheres as philosophy, literature, natural science, education, art, etc. organically and in interrelations. Having chosen this path, the authors, of course, could not avoid sometimes inevitable repetitions: they had to write about the same person, for example, Livania, in chapters on philosophy, political theory, historical thought, literature, and rhetoric. But this lack is compensated, on the one hand, by the completeness and thoroughness of the characteristics of this area of public consciousness itself (which is the purpose of the book), on the other hand, by the presence of monographs devoted to many outstanding figures of Byzantine culture, to which the authors of the chapters address the reader.

The book opens with a chapter by Z. V. Udaltsova on the peculiarities of the economic, social and political development of Byzantium in the IV-VII centuries. After a brief geographical sketch, it shows the main trends in the evolution of early Byzantine society.

It is quite justified to introduce a special chapter (written by V. I. Ukolova) on the peculiarities of cultural life in the West during the period under study: until the fifth century, Western Roman and Eastern Roman, Byzantine societies developed in a single state system, traces of this unity were not eliminated until the seventh century. 3
The evolution of philosophical thought in Byzantium of the IV-VII centuries is considered by S. S. Averintsev not as a simple continuation of the Late Antique tradition, but as a complex one,

Hertzman, A. A. Chekalova. Ed. by corresponding member. Academy of Sciences of THE USSR Z. V. Udaltsova. Members of the Editorial Board: S. S. Averintsev, A.D. Alexidze, A.V. Bank, G. L. Kurbatov, E. E. Lipshits, G. G. Litavrin, R. A. Nasledova, K. A. Osipova, Z. G. Samodurova, V. I. Ukolova, A. A. Chekalova (executive secretary).

2 See: Udaltsova Z. V. Some unsolved problems of the history of Byzantine culture. - Byzantium vremennik, 1980, N 41; ee same. On the typology of Byzantine culture. В кн.: Българската култура о взаимодействието със световната култура. I. Културата на средневековна България. Sophia. 1983; her own. The role of Byzantine traditions in the cultural development of Europe. In: Ideological and Political Struggle in medieval Society, Moscow, 1984.

3 See, for example: Kurbatov G. L. Istoriya Vizantii (ot antichnosti k feodalizmu) [History of Byzantium (from Antiquity to feudalism)]. Moscow, 1984, pp. 7-19.

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a diverse independent phenomenon, the formation of a new idealistic philosophy of the theologizing era (pp. 42-43). The author's merit is to highlight some common features of the philosophical creativity of the era. To do this, he also refers to its origins - Posidonius, Philo, Plotinus, and carefully analyzes the work of the Byzantine thinkers themselves-Cappadocians, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. The author shows the inconsistency of the processes that took place, the sharpness of ideological counter-views. The only conclusion that is indisputable is that Christian philosophy as such did not exist at that time (pp. 43, 44). Of course, during this period only its formation takes place, but the line leading from the Cappadocians to Maximus the Confessor and John of Damascus already forms a qualitatively new basis for syncretic Byzantine Christian philosophy.

Political theory is comprehensively considered by G. L. Kurbatov. In contrast to the often expressed opinions about the evolution of early Byzantine statehood to Eastern despotism, the author believes that the development of Roman political concepts led to the formation of a theory that presented Byzantium as an autocracy based on Roman law, with elements of constitutional principles (pp. 106-107). The chapter also focuses on the views of the opposition.

Of interest is the section on the development of historical thought in Byzantium, written by Z. V. Udaltsova. It analyzes the secular trend in historiography (Ammianus Marcellinus, Eunapius, Procopius of Caesarea, etc.), orthodox church historiography (Eusebius of Caesarea, Evagrius Scholasticus, etc.), the works of heretical historians (Philostorgius, John of Ephesus, etc.), and the emerging chronography. The socio-psychological characteristics of Byzantine historians are vivid and imaginative, and the peculiarities of their work are clearly shown. Z. V. Udaltsova quite rightly refers the radical change in the development of historical ideas to the IV century, and the victory of a new historical and philosophical concept based on providentialism to the VI - VII centuries (pp. 180-181). During the transition period, in particular in the works of Eusebius, the foundations of the Byzantine theory of symphony - a harmonious combination of the power of the orthodox emperor and the rule of the Christian Church - were laid, the postulate of the elect of the Romans (c, 186-187), the first integral concept of world history was created.

In the development of literature, the main trend was the synthesis of "Christian ideology and the Hellenic culture of the word" (p. 274). Rhetoric and hymnography had a special place in its implementation. The book repeatedly emphasizes the universality of rhetoric as a genre, its influence on all other genres of Byzantine literature, its specific role in the transmission of ancient heritage and in the educational system (p. 93, 285 - 286, 331, 357, 485). Among the valuable observations and conclusions of interest is the interpretation of the works and assessment of the personalities of Julian the Apostate and the rhetorician Livania (pp. 286-294, 334-338).

The Justinian era cannot be imagined without a Code of Civil law. In the chapter on legal science, a huge three-century codification work is presented as the main achievement of early Byzantine legal thought. At the same time, its conquest was the recognition of the equality of all people under natural law, and the emergence of new private law norms based on the ordinary law of the population, which is noted by the author of the chapter E. E. Lipshits.

It is unconventional to include chapters on diplomacy and military affairs in a book about culture. There were two reasons for this inclusion: first, the sophistication of the Byzantines in both fields of activity, and second, its broad representation in literary monuments, manuals for strategists and diplomats. Z. V. Udaltsov characterizes the methods and principles of Byzantine diplomacy, the foreign policy doctrines of the empire, and the ideas of Byzantine politicians about other peoples. It recreates the very image of the Byzantine ambassador.

V. V. Kuchma analyzes the military-theoretical thought of Byzantium on the basis of military treatises. Based on the well-founded conclusion that the old late Roman mercenary army has been replaced since the sixth century by a femal-type army based on peasant militias, the author traces how these changes were reflected in the entire Byzantine military doctrine. The consideration of military treatises as monuments of culture and social thought proposed in this chapter is an achievement of modern Byzantine studies.

Encyclopedism peculiar to Byzantium-

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the desire to systematize knowledge contributed to the preservation of the rich heritage of ancient natural science ideas and concepts. Although the Byzantines did not make a great contribution to the development of scientific theory at that time, as Z. G. Samodurova shows, they passed on the achievements of antiquity, partly enriched by new experience, to subsequent generations.

The dependence on antiquity was also great in geographical theory. O. R. Borodin distinguishes actually two traditions in the ideas of the Byzantines about the Earth. One of them, more conservative, Antioch, rejected the idea of the spherical shape of the Earth and considered it flat. This school was committed to the literal interpretation of the Bible. The other, the Alexandrian-Cappadocian one, also based on the authority of Basil the Great, made more extensive use of the achievements of ancient science and represented the Earth in the form of a sphere. It reflected a more progressive direction in those conditions. The section on geographical theory is supported by the consideration of geographical monuments (cosmography, peripheries), as well as cartography.

The geographical section of the book is joined by a chapter on "Christian Topography" by Kosma Indicoplov. However, the work of Cosmas, which was extremely popular in the Middle Ages, is broader than just a geographical treatise. It is contradictory both in form and content. It combines a wide variety of information and stories. The picture of the world reproduced by Kosma, as Z. V. Udaltsova correctly assesses it, "was not the brainchild of an ancient worldview, but rather a sign of the birth of a new medieval Christian literature" (p.477).

On the contrary, the Byzantine education system remained mostly classical and multi-stage. Secular education prevailed at the lower and middle levels, and the few ecclesiastical and monastic schools were mainly reserved for the clergy.

Chapters on the formation of Byzantine aesthetics, fine arts, architecture, applied arts, and music have been written at a high scientific level. The volume is completed with an expressive chapter by A. A. Chekalova on the life and customs of the Byzantines, which is rich and rich in various materials. In conclusion, Z. V. Udaltsova clearly identifies the main directions of development of Byzantine culture in the IV century - the first half of the VII century. By the middle of the seventh century, the empire had entered a new phase of development. The period of formation of medieval civilization has ended.

The reviewed work is the fruit of many years of hard work by a large team of Byzantine historians , philologists, philosophers, art historians and musicologists. This work, in our opinion, is one of the major achievements of Soviet historical science. It is aimed at the widest possible audience-from a professional medievalist to anyone interested in the history of culture. It will also take its place in the university education system. "Culture of Byzantium" is both a deep problem study and an interesting informative book, tastefully designed and richly illustrated, characterized by a high publishing culture. It also has one more purpose: thanks to a well-thought-out bibliography, it can also serve as a reference book on the history of Byzantium. The book is easy to use: it has an index of names. It may be advisable in the future to add a terminology dictionary with brief explanations of special vocabulary to the entire publication.

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S. P. KARPOV, CULTURE OF BYZANTIUM. IV-FIRST HALF OF THE VII CENTURY // Yerevan: Library of Armenia (LIB.AM). Updated: 24.01.2025. URL: https://lib.am/m/articles/view/CULTURE-OF-BYZANTIUM-IV-FIRST-HALF-OF-THE-VII-CENTURY (date of access: 10.02.2025).

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