The main characteristics of Byzantine literature at this stage are the gradual decline of ancient literature and the formation of new literary forms and standards, which laid the foundation of Byzantine literature. Christian thought and religious abstract aesthetic standards have replaced the relevant contents of ancient literature, and even the writing form has changed. In this earth-shaking change, Christian writers strongly opposed and rejected the "pagan" thoughts and theories of ancient writers. But they can't completely get rid of the influence of ancient literature, because they also received Christian education like secular writers. The influence of this ancient secular literature on Byzantine Christian writers was more obvious under the initial Byzantine policy of supporting all cultural knowledge, especially the position of Christian leaders who worked hard to develop the friendly relationship between Christianity and secularism provided favorable conditions. They did not deliberately exclude secular culture, but gradually combined church literature with secular ancient literature.
Among them, Eusebius (260 ~ 340) is the most successful representative of combining church literature with secular ancient literature. In the History of the Church and The Biography of Constantine the Great, he fully demonstrated his profound knowledge of classical literature and Christian style, and created a new writing style. His representative works include History of the Church, Chronicle and Biography of Constantine the Great.
Eusebius was born in the northern Palestinian city of Caesarea. He studied under Pan Filos, a famous local Christian theorist and scholar, and later went into exile to escape religious persecution. But after his arrival, the Western Roman Empire was treated with courtesy and hospitality. In 3 13 AD, after the Roman imperial authorities promulgated the religious tolerance law, Eusebius was elected as the patriarch of Caesarea. By chance, Eusebius became a good friend of Constantine and was reused as a royal historian by Constantine I. He actively participated in the decision-making of major church affairs under the auspices of the emperor. He wrote a lot in his life and many works handed down from generation to generation. He imitated the works of Afenus, a writer in the late Roman Empire, and completed a ten-volume chronicle. This book provides a detailed genealogy of ancient ruling dynasties in the Near East and North Africa, as well as a chronology of secular and church events at that time. His focus is mainly on the development of Christianity, especially the views he put forward in this book have a far-reaching impact on future generations.
Another masterpiece of Eusebius is The Biography of Constantine the Great, which was written to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Constantine I's accession to the throne. This book mainly describes the 30-year rule of Constantine I after he proclaimed himself emperor in July, 306, and records in detail the process of the emperor's reunification in the late Roman Empire under the condition of political turmoil and warlord separatist regime. In this book, the author is full of reverence for the emperor and too many compliments, but it inevitably affects his objective evaluation of historical facts. We can be sure that the records he left are reliable and true, not only confirmed by other works at that time, but also copied by later writers, and the historical materials are of great value. At the same time, this book has become the most important material for studying the founding history of Constantine I and the Byzantine Empire. In this biography, a large number of religious affairs of Constantine are recorded. Therefore, it was translated into Latin by church writers at the end of the 4th century, and the original book lasted until the year of Alexius in 395.
In the history of the church, Eusebius fully demonstrated his thoughts and continued his preaching to persuade people to do good. He insisted that the salvation of mankind by Jesus Christ was an important part of history, which followed God's choice of the protagonist in history, and the emperor who was faithful to God's will was God's representative in the world. Influenced by the above beliefs, Eusebius paid special attention to the description of political and ideological history in his writing. In the book, he used a lot of words to praise Constantine I, but never mentioned Constantine I's misdeeds and atrocities. He also copied the religious tolerance laws promulgated by other emperors to Constantine I's and put gold on his face. Therefore, these records made by Eusebius have affected the accuracy of church history.
Besides Eusebius, Zuo Si in the 5th century and Procopius (490 ~ 562) in the 6th century also showed the combination of old and new literary creation in their respective works. They kept the writing style of ancient Greek historians in historical compilation, and created the forms of church history and biographical literature at the same time.
In addition, Athanasius (295 ~ 373), Bishop of Alexandria, also made great contributions to theological papers, hymns and other religious works, which provided the basic style and blueprint for later Christian writers. Christian biographical literature rose from the monastic seclusion movement in Egypt. Romanu (? ~ 555) reached its peak among thousands of poems, and he used a lot of prosodic knowledge and format of ancient poems in his creation, which initiated a new era of Christian hymn writing.
From the mid-7th century to the mid-9th century, the development of Byzantine literature was almost interrupted. Compared with the first stage, there were neither famous writers nor immortal works in this period. The appearance of this phenomenon was directly related to the political situation in Byzantium at that time. At that time, the Byzantine Empire faced the invasion of Arabs and Slavs, and the empire lost a large territory in Asia, Africa and Europe. War needs weapons, ignoring literature. Under this background, Byzantine literature is difficult to develop. The image-destroying movement, which began in the 8th century, made Byzantine literature worse and hindered the development of Byzantine literature to some extent. Maxim (580 ~ 662) and John from Damascus (675 ~ 749) represented the highest level of Byzantine literary creation in this period. Maxim wrote a large number of Christian literary works in the struggle with the religious theory of the authorities, while John comprehensively expounded the Christian philosophical theory with rich classical philosophical knowledge when traveling in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The 9th century to 1204 is the third stage of the development of Byzantine literary history. Byzantine intellectuals, represented by Fotis (827-89 1), launched the literary revival movement with great enthusiasm. Fotis was born into a powerful family. He has read ancient books since he was a child. When he was young, he was an important official of the imperial court and was sent to the Arab Empire many times. At the age of 48, as a layman, he was appointed by the emperor as the president of Constantinople. He wrote many books in his life, especially devoted to the education of classical literature. During his tenure as a professor at Constantinople University, he actively engaged in the teaching of ancient Greek literature and history works. In order to facilitate students' study, he compiled a dictionary, which is a common vocabulary in ancient literature. In his letters to people at home and abroad, he reflected his enthusiasm for spreading ancient knowledge and his efforts in integrating popular knowledge. As a Christian leader from ordinary believers, Fotis's works promoted the revival of Byzantine literature, which had been declining for hundreds of years.
During the Macedonian Dynasty, the Byzantine Empire was strong and the stable social life provided good conditions for the development of literature. Byzantine literature entered a golden age during the reign of the scholar emperor Constantine VII. During this period, literary and historical works and writers emerged constantly. Poerxiusi was a representative figure in the development of Byzantine literature at that time. He was born in a middle-class family, but he is knowledgeable and talented. His history, philosophy, theology, poetry and draft laws all represented the highest level of literary writing at that time. At that time, the re-study of neo-Plato's philosophy by academic circles brought fresh air to the ideological circle bound by Aristotle's theory and unveiled the long-term ideological movement of doubting Aristotle's theory. This far-reaching influence was even reflected in the Italian Renaissance.
After 1204, Byzantine literature was the last stage of development, and literature showed its last vitality in the strong desire of national rejuvenation. At that time, writers and scholars all expressed their desire to revive the national prestige through literary creation. Among them, the political essay "The Image of the Emperor" written by Nicaean scholar Boulami Diss reflects the common desire of intellectuals to reorganize the rivers and mountains through the ideal emperor and create more brilliance. However, the Byzantine Empire has declined irretrievably, and it is impossible to find the lost world by literature alone. Therefore, Byzantine writers transferred their enthusiasm for reappearing ancient culture and infinite nostalgia for ancient glory to Italy, which directly promoted the rise of the trend of thought of reviving ancient culture and art there.