Thursday, September 14, 2023
Today started the sixth edition of the Annual School of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies, titled "Peace and War in Byzantium", organized by ISACCL in partnership with "Aristotle" University of Thessaloniki.
In his introductory speech, Mr. Emil Constantinescu, the president of the Scientific Council of ISACCL, stated that, beyond the educational valences and the intercultural dialogue, brought to a common denominator, the Annual School of Byzantine and post-Byzantine studies, founded on the perennial values of humanity, can be seen as a model for edifying a culture of peace.
Professor Claudia Rapp (University of Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences) sent a congratulatory message, read during the ceremony by dr. Ana-Maria Răducan (ISACCL). She illustrated the importance of the chosen topic in the Byzantine context, and welcomed the initiative and constant support offered by our Institute in organizing the Annual School of Byzantine Studies.
Professor Athanassios Semoglou ("Aristotle" University of Thessaloniki), the scientific director of the event, spoke about the importance of promoting the scientific knowledge, beyond the difficulties of the present, and emphasized the close collaboration with the "Aristotle" University of Thessaloniki, started in 2021, as a guarantee for the institution's authority and high academic qualities
Emeritus Professor Emil Constantinescu, President of the Scientific Council of The Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization:
Knowing the past should help us understand the present and be able to better anticipate the future. In his „Glass Bead Game”, a book written in the midst of a global war, Hermann Hesse proposed the model of a society predicated on culture, rather than on violence, and extols the value of cultural dialogue. Why, one wonders, after the spectacular development of intercultural dialogue in recent decades, is humanity now facing so many challenges, crippling adversity and a spiral of violence?
It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you to the 6th edition of the Annual School of Byzantine Studies, organized by the Institute of Advanced Studies for the Culture and Civilization of the Levant, in partnership with the “Aristotle” University of Thessaloniki with the topic of „Peace and War in Byzantium”.
Cicero once said that “Peace means freedom without worry”; and this Peace should be the capital virtue of modern society. Since the Pax Romana instituted by Caesar Augustus, the Roman Empire and its later successor, the Byzantine Empire, have made both peace and war into the tools with which they have deconstructed and then restructured the known world, with its rhythms of life, its institutions, its rules and mores. Another ancient Latin saying that has seen extensive use throughout Antiquity and, unfortunately, remains in sue to this day, says that, “si vis pacem, para bellum” – if you want peace, do well to prepare for war.
In his essay, „War and Civilization”, Arnold Toynbee demonstrated that any improvements brought to the military arts are not related to the improvement of society as a whole, nor to its proper functioning. Instead, they are rooted in the arrest, or even the retreat, of civilizational values. An ascendant civilization – such as Byzantium – does not in itself give rise to war; on the contrary, such a flourishing civilization goes a long way to prevent war altogether. It is civilizational crises that often seek a way through, by recourse to violence. In turn, military art is not a product of civilization, but rather a consequence of its degradation. The above statement might appear paradoxical, since, as mankind has continuously developed ever more complex thinking, ever more evolved culture and ever more sophisticated means of living throughout the aeons, the means of mankind waging war against one another have also seen continuous improvement. However, the true „trial by fire” of these means of waging war are, without a doubt, the many periods of tension, crises, conflicts and civilizational clashes, which are emblematic of complex dysfunctional phenomena occurring throughout human society.
It is only under the imminence of war that peace seems to gain value in the eyes of men. The gift of being able to build a life of freedom and joy in a peaceful community is, truly, priceless. It is only when young people, who do not know nor hate their enemy, go off to slaughter one another in a war decided by elders who do know, and do hate each other, when one really comes to know the true extent to which peace is valued.
Over the following days, you will investigate the shifting dynamics between these concepts which have both destroyed and forged worlds, in a mesmerizing interplay that often escapes any rational logic.
Knowing the past should help us understand the present and be able to better anticipate the future. In his „Glass Bead Game”, a book written in the midst of a global war, Hermann Hesse proposed the model of a society predicated on culture, rather than on violence, and extols the value of cultural dialogue. Why, one wonders, after the spectacular development of intercultural dialogue in recent decades, is humanity now facing so many challenges, crippling adversity and a spiral of violence?
In my opinion, the culture of peace is more than merely engaging in intercultural dialogue, and its construction requires much more time and perseverance. It is a process of continuous education, from childhood to old age. We cannot overlook the fact that a „culture of peace” cannot be superseded by a new „culture of democracy” or even by a new „culture of the market economy”.
The culture of peace is also difficult to help build because, at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, the need for education has been replaced by the need for entertainment, because it is entertainment, not education, that brings money. Mass murder, genocide, rape, the destruction of mankind’s cultural monuments is what counts as breaking news, not (often) humanitarian initiatives. If this reality does not change, children that are being brought up and educated today, in the spirit of violence, will naturally migrate – even without any ideological or religious motivations – towards those spaces that have become a form of protected 'reservations', where „manhunts”, „torture” and „murder” are not only allowed, but even encouraged, praised and popularised. These „hunters of violent imagery” are just as sorely responsible as the „arms dealers” themselves, because both their motivations are the same: the pursuit of profit, of money.
Beyond its educational value in bringing intercultural dialogue to a shared common denominator, the Annual School of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies, predicated on the perennial values of humanity, can well be taken as a positive model for building a culture of peace.
It is a great joy for me to welcome Professor Athanassios Semoglou of the „Aristotle” University of Thessaloniki, the School’s Scientific Director; Professor Claudia Rapp (University of Vienna and Vienna Academy of Sciences), who has submitted a recorded message for our opening ceremony, and Professor Pablo Argarate of the University of Graz, who will speak to us today about how theology and church iconography portray this dynamic between peace and war. I also welcome the following speakers who have graciously accepted our invitation: Alexandros Alexakis (University of Ioannina), Anca Dan (National Centre for Scientific Research, Paris), Ernesto Sergio Mainoldi (University of Salerno), So Miyagawa (National Institute for Japanese Language), Mariana Bodnaruk (University of Fribourg and Central European University), Manuela Dobre, Andra Jugănaru and David-Gabriel Carpen (Faculty of History, University of Bucharest), Antonio Pio di Cosmo (University of Modena and the Levant Institute), Liviu Iancu (a passionate archaeologist at the Levant Institute).
I wish you fruitful days to come, in which you may deepen your passion for Byzantine literature and civilization; and I wish you great success in your future careers!
Professor Claudia Rapp, University of Vienna, director of The Medieval Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, president of the Austrian Byzantine Association:
The Byzantine military handbooks, which survive in surprising numbers, advise that open warfare should be avoided through diplomacy and negotiations. And Byzantine theologians knew that true peace, the peace that lasts, can only come from God. Peace and war are topics that invite reflection from many perspectives: politics and theology, social history and material culture, demography and military history.
War and peace have always been pressing issues in the history of humankind, and never more so than today, when there is war waged on our immediate neighbours to the east in the Ukraine.
During its thousand-year history, Byzantium was not only exposed to invaders along its borders, but also experienced many civil wars and uprisings. The Byzantines knew that, in the final analysis, nobody wins in a war: on both sides, people die and resources are exhausted, landscapes are devastated and infrastructure is demolished. For this reason, the Byzantine military handbooks, which survive in surprising numbers, advise that open warfare should be avoided through diplomacy and negotiations. And Byzantine theologians knew that true peace, the peace that lasts, can only come from God. Peace and war are topics that invite reflection from many perspectives: politics and theology, social history and material culture, demography and military history. No doubt the speakers and participants will add even further facets and insights over the next days.
It is a pleasure to congratulate Professor Semoglu, the Scientific Director, and Dr. Raducan, the organizer and initiator of the School of Byzantine Studies, for their choice of this timely and important topic, and to applaud the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilizations for their continued support of the Annual School of Byzantine Studies. The fact that is now in its sixth year speaks to its success.
I wish you much success as you continue your endeavors in the exploration of Byzantium which constitutes one of the major foundations of European culture.
Professor Athanasios Semoglou, „Aristotle” University of Thessaloniki, the scientific director of the sixth edition of the Annual Summer School of Byzantine Studies:
In this period very fragile for Europe, the chosen topic for this sixth edition aims a retour to the most obscur eras of Byzantium, marked by external wars against the enemies and also by civil wars, but also to the peaceful periods in which there were built the so-called epos and glory of Byzantium. The study of these two opposed notions, which are to be thought in am exclusive relationship from a semantic perspective, îs not only didactic. It enhances a deep reflection in the Byzantine vision of history, its forces and evolution in time and stimulates discussions about the permanent condition of war and the possibility of a "perpetual peace", as it was coined by Emmanuel Kant.
A new year, a new summer school is starting. The sixth edition of the Annual School of Byzantine and Postbyzantine studies, on a topic very interesting about peace and war in Byzantium. An important number of colleagues, invited from several countries, will develop online this subject, trying to elucidate its litterary, historical, archaeological, epigraphic and artistic subjects. I would like to thank them enourmously for their participation and also for their continous support to this renown institution which contributes to the edification of young Byzantinists.
This year too I express my deepest gratitude to the most important figure of this Byzantine School, the president of the Institute of Advanced Studies for the Levant Culture and Civilization, mister Emil Constantinescu. Thanks to his continous support, we surmont all the difficulties and obstacles, aiming only to the scientific knowledge, beyond the ethnic conflicts and geopolitical tensions. Beside this, the tight collaboration with the "Aristotle" University of Thessaloniki, started from 2021, is a guarantee for the autority and high academic qualities of the institution.
In this period very fragile for Europe, the chosen topic for this sixth edition aims a retour to the most obscur eras of Byzantium, marked by external wars against the enemies and also by civil wars, but also to the peaceful periods in which there were built the so-called epos and glory of Byzantium. The study of these two opposed notions, which are to be thought in am exclusive relationship from a semantic perspective, îs not only didactic. It enhances a deep reflection in the Byzantine vision of history, its forces and evolution in time and stimulates discussions about the permanent condition of war and the possibility of a "perpetual peace", as it was coined by Emmanuel Kant in his work, "Zum ewigen Frieden. Ein philosophischer Entwurf", published in 1795.
Finally, I would like to once again thank my colleague, Doctor Ana Maria Raducan, the project manager and the soul of these summer schools since their genesis.
I wish you a fruitful 2023 edition, full of ideas and rich in scientific results. Greetings and good luck!
