Byzantine culture was distinctive in many ways, what are
some of its important features?
Byzantine culture was able to hold an effective and stable
government and judicial system for nearly a millennia. This was probably the
most important characteristic, seeing how this was what lead the Byzantines for
a long time. Another important part of the Byzantine culture was their
religion. The Byzantines were Orthodox, and had many churches in their part of
the empire. Lastly, chariot racing was a major sport for the Byzantines. This
sport was similarly as important as gladiatorial battles for the Romans.
Arguably
each of these three civilizations could claim the mantle of the Roman Empire.
In your view, which one had the strongest claim to carry forward the legacies
of the classical past?
In my opinion, I’d have to say the Byzantines had the
strongest claim to carry forward the classical past. There are two main holds
the Byzantines had for their past. The first is lineage. Byzantium was a Roman
Heir, taking a third of the empire, meaning his lineage should lead back to
strong Roman roots. The second is culture. The Byzantine’s culture directly
paralleled that of Romans in many ways. They had chariot racing, paralleling
the gladiatorial battles. They had a lot of trade, paralleling the Tiber River,
bringing much trade to Rome over the years. Lastly, the distribution of power,
while it wasn’t directly related to that of Rome’s, was still relatively close,
and I’d say more of an improvement from that of Rome’s, being more stable for a
much longer time.
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