Some Reflections on the Continuity of Greek Culture in the East in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries

The seventh and eighth centuries, the so-called 'dark centuries' of Byzantium, have been removed from cultural history, not only by the Byzantines themselves, who in the epoch known as 'l'âge heroique de Byzance' wished to be directly linked to late antiquity, ¹ but also, for a long period, by modern scholars. Continuity of Greek authors and texts is acknowledged until the end of the sixth century, or at the latest the time of Heraclius. A gap then appears between the seventh and eighth centuries and finally it is suggested that a revival began at the time of the second Iconoclasm, reaching full development in the Macedonian period. ² The rationale behind this vision is the continual affirmation and reconfirmation of Constantinople's centrality, in the face of which any other critical evaluation has been ignored. The picture is different if we consider the areas that remained under Byzantine domination for long periods (even though gradually lost by that empire), or bordered the Byzantine empire, in any case areas peripheral to Constantinople (Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Persia, Mesopotamia, and Armenia). Here, substantial traces of the continuity of Greek culture, Classical and otherwise, attested by retranslations into the languages of the Near and Middle East, emerge in the 'dark centuries', as recent studies have increasingly confirmed.