Between the eighth and eleventh centuries A. D., 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 extinguish 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 Byzantium 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 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

1. which of the following best states the central idea of the passage?
(a) the byzantine empire was a unique case in which the usual order of military and economic revival preceding cultural revival was reversed. -This the conclusion of the passage and not the central idea.
(b) the economic, cultural, and military revival in the byzantine empire between the eighth and eleventh centuries was similar in its order to the sequence of revivals in augustan rome and fifth-century athens. -This statement is also true, but is definitely not the central idea.
(c) after 810 byzantine economic recovery spurred a military and, later, cultural expansion that lasted until 1453. -This is the opposite of what the author states. Definitely not the central idea as well.
(d) the eighth-century revival of byzantine learning is an inexplicable phenomenon, and its economic and military precursors have yet to be discovered. -First part of the statement is true - Yes the revival was surprising - but the second part can't be assumed from the passage as no such information is given by the author.
(e) the revival of the byzantine empire between the eighth and eleventh centuries shows cultural rebirth preceding economic and military revival, the reverse of the commonly accepted order of progress. -CORRECT. The passage is all about the revival of the empire and the chronology of social, economic and military activities.


2. the primary purpose of the second paragraph is which of the following?
It talks about the 3 activities and how their order is important in an economy
(a) to establish the uniqueness of the byzantine revival -Wrong as per my above statement
(b) to show that augustan rome and fifth-century athens are examples of cultural, economic, and military expansion against which all subsequent cases must be measured -It gives an illustration, but the main point of second para is as described above.
(c) to suggest that cultural, economic. and military advances have tended to be closely interrelated in different societies. -CORRECT. As per our expectation
(d) to argue that, while the revivals of augustan rome and fifth-century athens were similar, they are unrelated to other historical examples -The author doesn't argue on anything
(e) to indicate that, wherever possible, historians should seek to make comparisons with the earliest chronological examples of revival -No; wrong as per my above statement

3. it can be inferred from the passage that by the eleventh century the byzantine military forces
(a) had reached their peak and begun to decline -We cant say whether they started to decline or not.
(b) had eliminated the bulgarian army - We can't say which army they defeated. All we know from the passage is that the byzantine military regained some of its earlier captured land
(c) were comparable in size to the army of rome under augustus -We can't say this either
(d) were strong enough to withstand the abbasid caliphate's military forces -CORRECT."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" - We can see from this statement, that byzantine's military had long become strong to withstand abbasid caliphate's military forces
(e) had achieved control of byzantine governmental structures -We can't say this

4. it can be inferred from the passage that the byzantine empire sustained significant territorial losses
"By the early eighth century, the empire had lost roughly two-thirds of the territory it had possessed in the year 600"-From this statement we know that they had good amount of land under there control in 600, but by early eighth century they lost most of their land. Thus, all the bad things happened in the seventh century
(a) in 600 -wrong
(b) during the seventh century - CORRECT
(c) a century after the cultural achievements of the byzantine empire had been lost -Wrong
(d) soon after the revival of byzantine learning -Wrong
(e) in the century after 873 -Are you kidding me? Completely wrong

5. in the third paragraph, the author most probably provides an explanation of the apparent connections among economic, military, and cultural development in order to
In the second para the authors introduces the three "things": culture, economic development and military. In the third para the authors presents the general chronology and in the very next para refutes the chronology.
(a) suggest that the process of revival in byzantium accords with this model -Opposite of the reality
(b) set up an order of events that is then shown to be not generally applicable to the case of byzantium -CORRECT
(c) cast aspersions on traditional historical scholarship about byzantium -Wrong
(d) suggest that byzantium represents a case for which no historical precedent exists -Rubbish
(e) argue that military conquest is the paramount element in the growth of empires -In general, true; but the same is not true for byzantine empire

6. which of the following does the author mention as crucial evidence concerning the manner in which the byzantine revival began?
(a) the byzantine military revival of the 860's led to economic and cultural advances. -The author says that the social change began way back in 780s. This is the opposite of what the author thinks.
(b) the byzantine cultural revival lasted until 1453. -We are worried about the beginning and not the end
(c) the byzantine economic recovery began in the 900's. -It's too late. The recovery began in the eighth century itself, definitely not in the ninth century
(d) the revival of byzantine learning began toward the end of the eighth century. -CORRECT. The cultural, economic and military development together initiated the empire's learning in the eighth century.
(e) by the early eleventh century the byzantine empire had regained much of its lost territory. -Ok, but it doesn't tell us how the recovery began

7. according to the author, "the common explanation" (line 28) of connections between economic, military, and cultural development is
(a) revolutionary and too new to have been applied to the history of the byzantine empire -Wrong as its a general rule that applies to most of the empires, but byzantine was an exception. This wasn't a new venture.
(b) reasonable, but an antiquated theory of the nature of progress -It wasn't an outdated theory
(c) not applicable to the byzantine revival as a whole, but does perhaps accurately describe limited periods during the revival -CORRECT. It wasn't applicable to the byzantine's revival since the opposite of the explanation was applicable to the byzantine's empire. Even though the chronology was opposite, each individual element (i.e. culture, economic development and military) was important towards the learning of the byzantine empire's recovery.
(d) equally applicable to the byzantine case as a whole and to the history of military, economic, and cultural advances in ancient greece and rome -It wasn't applicable to the byzantine empire. In fact it was reverse chronology that applied to byzantine empire.
(e) essentially not helpful, because military, economic, and cultural advances are part of a single phenomenon -The connections among the three "things" are helpful, however only the chronology is different from the general.

Hope this helps !!

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Kudos if this helps in any way !!