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  3. The Cultural Revival in the Byzantine Empire Between the eighth

The Cultural Revival in the Byzantine Empire Between the eighth

游客2024-12-27  12
问题             The Cultural Revival in the Byzantine Empire
    Between the eighth and eleventh centuries A. D. , the Byzantine Empire staged an almost unparalleled economic and cultural revival, a recovery that is all the more striking because it followed a long period of severe internal decline. By the early eighth century, the empire had lost roughly two - thirds of the territory it had possessed in the year 600, and its remaining area was being raided by Arabs and Bulgarians, who at times threatened to take Constantinople and extinguished the empire altogether. The wealth of the state and its subjects was greatly diminished, and artistic and literary production had virtually ceased. By the early eleventh century, however the empire had regained almost half of its lost possessions, its new frontiers were secure, and its influence extended far beyond its borders. The economy had recovered, the treasury was full, and art and scholarship had advanced.
    To consider the Byzantine military, cultural, and economic advances as differentiated aspects of a single phenomenon is reasonable. After all, these three forms of progress have gone together in a number of states and civilizations. Rome under Augustus and fifth -century Athens provide the most obvious examples in antiquity. Moreover, an examination of the apparent sequential connections among military, economic, and cultural forms of progress might help explain the dynamics of historical change.
    The common explanation of these apparent connections in the case of Byzantine would run like this: when the empire had turned back enemy raids on its own territory and had begun to raid and conquer enemy territory, Byzantine resources naturally expanded and more money became available to patronize art and literature. Therefore, Byzantine resources naturally expanded and more money became available to patronize art and literature. Therefore, Byzantine military achievements led to economic advances, which in turn led to cultural revival.
    No doubt this hypothetical pattern did apply at times during the course of the recovery. Yet it is not clear that military advances invariably came first. Economic advances second, and intellectual advances third. In the 860’s the Byzantine Empire began to recover from Arab incursions so that by 872 the military balance with the Abbasid Caliphate had been permanently altered in the empire’s favor. The beginning of the empire’s economic revival, however, can be placed between 810 and 830. Finally, the Byzantine revival of learning appears to have begun even earlier. A number of notable scholars and writers appeared by 788 and, by the last decade of the eighth century, a cultural revival was in full bloom, a revival that lasted until the fall of constantinople in 1453. Thus the commonly expected order of military revival followed by economic and then by cultural recovery was reversed in Byzantium. In fact, the revival of Byzantine learning may itself have influenced the subsequent economic and military expansion. [br] According to the author, "The common explanation" ( first sentence in third paragraph) of connections between economic, military, and cultural development is ______.
选项 A、revolutionary and too new to have been applied to the history of the Byzantine Empire
B、reasonable, but an antiquated theory of the nature of progress
C、not applicable to the Byzantine revival as a whole, but does perhaps accurately describe limited periods during the revival
D、essentially not helpful, because military, economic, and cultural advances are part of a single phenomenon
答案 C
解析 A认为有革命性，但应用于拜占庭历史还过于超前，与作者的评价不一致。B认为有理，但过时。文中指出其缺点是不能解释拜占庭的实际情况，未提它是否符合潮流。C认为对拜占庭复兴整体上是不适用的，但或许能解释其中有限一段时间的情况，故而正确。D认为基本上没什么用，因为军事、经济、文化进步是一个现象的不同侧面，前言不搭后语。Because之后的原因根本推不出前面的结论。
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