A millennium of empire ?crosses between East and West, between classic and modern, a civilization of contrasts, of Orthodox Christianity? Iap?anism, Greek classical education, Roman power and the Islamic background.
Yes? do i exist truly a legacy, it is the lesson of a society's power to use every invasion to its advantage, setting the encroaching populations to fighting among themselves or accepting them within its borders, integrating them into its own religious and cultural system.
„ New Hagia Sophia, sanctified? on December 27, 537, it was one of the most expensive constructions ever built, but the cost is fully justified, considering its splendor, which arouses so much admiration. The dome, fifty-five meters high, dominated the surrounding streets, being probably visible from a great distance, even from ships at sea. The interior was even more impressive, with the overwhelming feeling created by the dimensions and spaces. The effect was enhanced by the mosaics that completely covered the vault and the marble columns? of various colors – reds, purples and greens – which supported the galleries. Through the forty small windows around the dome, light entered the building from different angles, at different times of the day, bathing the golden mosaics in dazzling rays. and the marble columns? It's no wonder that Justinian was extremely delighted with his new cathedral. It is even said that would have boasted that he was not inferior to Solomon, the king from the Old Testament who built the Temple in Jerusalem.
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The regime that came to power in Germany in the 1930s considered itself capable of it lasts a thousand years and has hardly turned twelve. Byzantium, on the other hand, exceeded the threshold of a millennium. How was it possible?
First of all, did Christianity impose itself in Byzantium? the model of a combination of political authority? and religious? of a single head of state, which supported political stability?.
Îin the second line, this? authority and invites his subjects to express their consent for each new leader, offering them a surprisingly direct relationship? with him.
Thirdly, did the authority provide public services that were satisfactory? measure? the essential needs of citizens and promotes a spiritual ethos that captivates their hearts and minds.
and, not least in turn, Byzantium developed a new shape? of art? and architecture, which seeks to visually expresses the immaterial and the spiritual.“
Author
Jonathan Harris revisiting? the history of Byzantium from a perspective? new? And maybe not coincidentally extremely current?. The empire in eastern Europe was exceptionally long-lived. Which s? or explain, he wonders? the English historian. Over Constantinople came waves of populations, often strong and aggressive, with armies capable of destroy? any opposition. and it seems that the saving solution was most often the skillful transformation of enemies into allies and then their integration into the empire.
Jonathan Harris is a professor of Byzantine history at the University of London.