A psychological reading of the history of Byzantium : the trilogy by John Julius Norwich

Abstract

This study is based on the four books about Byzantium written by John Julius Norwich. More than being academic books, the trilogy and the short history of Byzantium have served to popularise the history, the writers and the story of the Byzantine Empire. These four books were read with a psychological lens, where the exercise was to lift themes pertaining to the life and development of individuals in this unique state across 1200 years. Of the many themes that emerge, four themes have been selected for discussion. The first of these is betrayal, with sub-themes such as loyalty, friendship, trust and mistrust incorporated in the discussion. The second theme focuses on women in Byzantium. This exploration will address the above theme, with a gender twist where it is deemed appropriate, as well as other emerging themes, including power, relationships and women rulers. The third there is religion. The subscription of a society to a god or higher value and sentiments casts a light on the journey of Byzantine society not only towards faith but also towards civility and civilization. The last theme to be discussed is emotions. The Thehistoriographiic recording of expression of emotions would demonstrate that society is journeying towards relationships based on trust and intimacy, rather than mistrust. Trusting relationships allow people to develop their potential to the fullest. The above development of the four themes will be discussed against Maslow's theory of 'hierarchy of needs' - a theory of personality and motivation that has stood the test of time in psychology. The debate arising from the themes and episodes elicited, will attempt to demonstrate that Byzantine society was able to move up the different layers of motivation defined according to Maslow in order to achieve the stage of collective self-actualisation and transcendence. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that, as time goes by, individuals and society move from one layer to another across this imaginary 'hierarchy of needs, and in doing this they are motivated by these needs, depending on contemporary circumstances. It will be argued that Byzantium moved from being motivated by lower deficit needs to be spurred on by higher level needs such as order and justice. The recording of episodes pertaining to certain themes by historians would show this societal and individual progress towards a fuller expression of civilization.