?? 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
(5) 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
(10) 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
(15) influence extended far beyond its borders. The economy
had recovered, the treasury was full, and art and scho-
larship had advanced.
??To consider the Byzantine military, cultural, and
?economic advances as differentiated aspects of a single
(20) 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
(25) connections among military, economic, and cultural
forms of progress might help explain the dynamics of
historical change.
?The common explanation of these apparent conn-
ections in the case of Byzantium would run like this:
(30) 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 lit-
? erature. Therefore, Byzantine military achievements led to
(35) economic advances

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