A. COUNTRY TOWN OP LYCAONIA. 



87 



one-sided and ndsleadintr in the highest degree. We want 

 therefore to know something of the comnion people, the way 

 they live, their surroundings, their views of life, and how far 

 they were affected by the great Church leaders, generals and 

 statesmen. 



The question may be asked with regard to the Byzantine 

 Empire ; Is it worth while to take up our time in making out 

 some picture of a period rightly regarded as a period of decay 

 in the history of the world ? There is no doubt that Gibbons' 

 title, Tlie Bise and Fall of the Jiovian Empire, is correct. 

 The fall was in great measure due to the pressure of what was 

 going on in the Byzantine Empire, that is in Eastern Europe and 

 Western Asia. Two remarks will bring out the importance of 

 life in the Byzantine Empire. 



In the first place it was the point of contact of the East 

 and West. Now at the point of contact *of East and West has 

 always lain the central point in the movement of the world. 

 Sometimes this point seems to lose its importance, and tlie 

 centre of movement seems to shift to Europe, or even America. 

 This, however, is only for a time, and we always come back to 

 the inter-relation between Asia and Europe ; Europe being 

 taken to designate the whole West and to include America. 

 The Mediterranean Sea was the centre round which the main 

 forces of civilisation inter-acted with one another, and now for 

 a time in the Atlantic Ocean is the point around which all the 

 forces are moving. So in a comparatively near future, though 

 probably none of us will live to see it, the Pacific Ocean may 

 be the theatre across which the most important forces in the 

 development of the world will act upon one another. Xow^ the 

 fact that the Byzantine Empire was for many centuries the 

 theatre of this inter-action, makes it an important factor in the 

 history of the world. 



In the second place, it was the Byzantine Empire that stood 

 between the barbarism overwhelming Asia and the infant 

 civilisation of Europe. There can, humanly speaking, be no 

 doubt that Mahometanism would have swept over Europe had 

 it not been for the staying power of the Byzantine Empire and 

 the strength of Constantinople. One can understand how 

 important it was that the Byzantine Empire was able, in the 

 first place, to maintain itself though with great difficulty against 

 the attack of Mahometanism and after a time to roll back the 

 tide of Mahometanism towards the East, and then after a long 

 time to withstand the Turkish power. In this way the West 

 was given time to strengthen itself for tlie struggle against Asia. 



