Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 311 It's All Master's Wish

In order to solve this problem, the coping methods adopted by the Greeks are also very "traditional".

An old nobleman from the Ionian Islands, Zambérios, put forward a new point of view: He believes that Greek civilization has three elements, namely classical Greek elements, Christian elements and Roman elements.These three are indispensable and together form Greek civilization.

People in the Central Plains are probably familiar with this theory.Because this is actually the idea of ​​"combining the three systems into one".Just like what Confucius said, like the Zhou Dynasty was combined with the Xia and Shang Dynasties, Greece was also combined with elements of previous dynasties such as Rome and the Church, forming a new culture that not only inherited the past but also made innovations.

Facing people’s rejection of medieval Eastern Rome at that time, Zamberios believed that, whether he likes it or not, he must recognize this era, the Byzantine civilization that connected later Greece with classical Greece, and those indispensable elements. "Oriental Features".Because they are also part of Greek culture.

This theory closes a huge hole in previous Greek nationalism.Of course, there are still many people who insist on the purity of Greek culture and hate the backward and foreign "Orientality".

However, another historian, Paparigopoulos, subsequently refined this idea.He believes that history is a continuous evolution, and it is unreasonable to forcibly segment and create differences.Of course, the Greek country is also continuously evolving and developing. It is very normal for language, religion, etc. to change.He puts more emphasis on the continuation of the language, and the continuation of the Greek nation.

He proposed that the ancient Greek city-states had fallen behind, and it was difficult to form a unified country.The arrival of Alexander transformed Greece instead.Including the introduction of Christianity and the relocation of the capital of Constantine, a total of three such major transformations occurred.Each change has adapted to the new historical environment and historical mission, and completed the salvation of the past.External factors such as Christianity and Rome are therefore inseparable from Greece, and the two sides support each other's development and promote the progress of civilization.

These three changes were called the "three rebirths" of Greece by him.Not only is it not backward and degraded, but it is also a symbol of continuous inclusiveness and sustainable development, and it is also a feature that distinguishes Greek civilization from other civilizations.

It's a pity that these Greek historians may not have had much contact with the history of Seris, otherwise they wouldn't have been embarrassed for so long...

Of course, this theory is not very perfect.Among other things, in Guo Kang's era, the public opinion was entangled with many questions about the orthodoxy of the Yuan and Qing, and the Greeks probably couldn't stand it if they were thrown out casually.

Of course, fortunately, there is no second such strict place in the world.The theory of the Greeks, at least on their side, is sufficient.

Unfortunately, although this theory provides some persuasion, its practical impact is very limited.

The biggest reason is still that the Greeks must rely on the Europeans.

For this reason, they didn't even want their own names: when choosing their own names, the Greek writers even preferred to use the Latin "Grecia" rather than the Greek "Greece" as their self-proclaimed name.The former was originally the Romans' specific reference to southern Italy and the Greater Greece region, and it was used to refer to the whole of Greece, which is actually a misunderstanding.

In this regard, their explanation is that the Greeks themselves used this word to refer to Greece, and it was not too late, and Aristotle began to use it.As for whether Aristotle really said it, or the kind of "Aristotle said" that Guo Kang often used, maybe Aristotle himself didn't know...

This matter is even more contradictory - in order to get to the bottom of the matter, draw a line with the "Roman Tartars" and return to pure Greek culture, these Greeks don't even recognize Eastern Rome, creating such a big trouble .As a result, in the choice of names, there was a return to the language of the Romans.

Obviously, this has nothing to do with whether Rome is advanced or backward. The whole logic is chaotic.Even if Aristotle came by himself, he had to pay attention to avoid suspicion.

Of course, the reason for the confusion is not complicated: it's all the owner's wish.

Why did the Greeks have to draw a line with Rome?Because Europeans can never accept that there is a Rome coming out.Guo Kang himself is very clear about this matter.

And why did the Greeks use Roman words for their names?No, it's because Europeans are used to Latin and its derivatives, which are more convenient to use and conducive to international viewing.

On the one hand, this is because of the doomed sorrow of a small country, and on the other hand, it is because the performance of the Greeks themselves is indeed not very good.

From the beginning, this "country" was unable to achieve internal unity: it was a loose alliance formed by a large number of bandit organizations called "Crafts" and some traditional nobles.The bandits don't obey everyone's orders-the good thing is that they hate the bossy Ottomans, and the bad thing is that they also hate the Greek regime that gave them orders;

Although the old nobles had a solid family background, and some families were even the elders of the three dynasties of Eastern Rome, Ottoman and Greece, their combat effectiveness was indeed not very good.

What's more troublesome is that these people may not be as loyal to Greece as the bandits-most of them are the upper-class Greek nobles "Fanars" who served the Sultan in the Ottoman era.

Some families were originally local leaders in Bulgaria and Wallachia, but because of their help, they were hated by the locals more than the Ottomans, so they could only run away; Do they really love their country or is it just another speculation.

For the characteristics of these people, the patron saint of Athens, St. Philotheus, gave an overview.The aristocratic woman who was martyred to protect the women taken by the Ottomans commented on her compatriots that "there is no difference between good and evil, no faith, no concentration, shameless and daring, daily resentment... always ready Take advantage of other people's misfortunes." From the perspective of later development, her evaluation is quite accurate.

These people did set up a committee early on to formulate an interim constitution, but this organization failed to bridge the contradictions among the people at all.Their only consensus is probably to ask foreign countries for money and support.The British historian George Finley, who went to Greece to participate in the War of Independence, bluntly recorded that the main job of these people was to try to deceive the Europeans into giving money, but they made little effort to organize the Greeks themselves.

The effort was not fruitless.A group of Western Europeans really went to Greece to support the war, and more people were willing to raise funds for various purposes.

In London, the philosopher Bentham and others organized the "London Greek Association", trying to use Greece's independence to carry out their own attempts to build an ideal society.The association has attracted many wealthy nobles. In 1825, the highest investment was 200 million pounds in Greece - and the military expenditure of the British Army in that year was only 680 million.

Byron was more realistic than Bentham, and felt that this idea was a bit unrealistic.But the actual situation in Greece surprised even this deeply skeptical poet with severe depression.Relying on the operation that can discharge the mentally ill from the hospital, the old nobles managed to waste all these funds on endless internal strife and party disputes. They failed to achieve any results and could only borrow more money from stricter creditors Fill in the holes.

So these theoretical questions are actually embarrassing.It has been like this for hundreds of years, which makes Guo Kang doubt whether it is useful for the Greeks to study this thing...

(End of this chapter)