The death of the empire. Byzantine lesson

The basic concept of the painting goes back to the Moscow Metropolitan Zosima , who in 1492, in his exposition of Paschal, first put forward the thesis “Moscow - Third Rome” .

The presenter - Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) - from the first person gives his version of the collapse of the Byzantine Empire . Filming was done in modern Constantinople ( Istanbul ), Venice and Moscow.

The central line of the film is the propaganda of a strong state. On the example of the death of such a great empire as Byzantium, the idea is made that a state with a large territory and a large number of peoples included in it must be strong, otherwise it will disintegrate due to centrifugal forces objectively existing in any multinational state, and due to the desire of the neighbors surrounding this state to profit at someone else's expense. As such neighbors in the film, the peoples of then Western Europe (referred to in the film simply as “West”), who were at that time referred to in the film, are very far from civilization, and named both in Roman and Byzantine, act as empires by barbarians (Germans, Anglo-Saxons, French, etc.). According to the film, these "barbarians" plundered Constantinople and, wisely using its myriad riches, gave the main impetus to their civilization, now called the "Western".

The film draws analogies with Russian history. The author talks about the history of Byzantium, comparing it with the history of modern Russia, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union . A direct analogy is drawn with the events of recent history, such as, for example, the struggle of the state bureaucracy with the oligarchs , the Orange Revolution in Ukraine and the separation of Serbia and Bulgaria from Byzantium, the strengthening of the vertical of power, etc.

The authors took an unequivocal position on the national question, which is especially relevant in imperial-type states. Attention is paid to the equality of all peoples of the empire among themselves. At the same time, as a positive point, the mixed origin of the Orthodox emperors of Byzantium is indicated and a brief genealogy of some of them is given. Greek nationalism that has taken place is criticized, the religious factor is placed higher than the national one (which is consonant with the approach of priest Daniil Sysoev ).

• "Byzantine lesson" - the official website of the film
• The film "The death of the empire. Byzantine lesson "in wmv-format. Duration 1:11:02 min. Size 103.1 Mb
• The announcer's text of the literary script of the film “The death of the empire. Byzantine lesson »
• The film "The death of the empire. Byzantine lesson » A selection of materials from the media / Orthodoxy.Ru
• Discussion of the film. Telecast "National Interest", TC " Russia " (flv file)

For

• “Byzantine Nabat” (letter from five historians to the editorial office of Nezavisimaya Gazeta). // NG Religions . - 2.4.2008.
• Volodikhin D.M. Legacy of the Second Rome. Experience brief apology. Political News Agency , 13.2.2008.
• Kirillin V. M. The edification of the future . Theological portal “ Theologian.ru ”, 03/08/2008.
• Kozlov M. E. , prot., Burega V., Kirillin V. M. The revival of satire, or Lesson from Father Tikhon . // Tatyana's day . - March 21, 2008.
• Lunkin R.N. Disaster film. Portal-Credo.ru , 02/11/2008.
• Maksimenko V.G. Byzantine lesson as a historical fork . Strategic Culture Foundation , Orthodoxy.ru , 02/28/2008.
• Narochnitskaya N. A. Disputes around Byzantium // Russian newspaper. - No. 26. - 7.2.2008.
• Pokrovskaya A.M. Byzantine warning . Pravoslavie.ru
• Rastorguev V.N. “„ The death of the Empire. The Byzantine lesson "is a film-parable." Russian line , 5.02.2008.
• Rasputin V. G. About the film “Death of an Empire. The Byzantine lesson ” // Soviet Russia : newspaper. - 02/28/2008.
• Sergeytsev T.N. , Petrova O. What modernity do we need? // Profile : journal. - No. 7 (563). - 25.2.2008.
• Tukmakov D. Save the Empire! Tomorrow : a newspaper. - No. 7 (743). - February 13, 2008.
• Tutina Yu., Trostnikov V. N. Original or Western // Arguments and Facts : Newspaper. - No. 7 (1424). - February 13, 2008.
• Fefelov A. In the trenches of Tsaregrad // Tomorrow: newspaper. - No. 7 (743). - February 13, 2008.
• Kholmogorov E. S. Byzantine lesson // Special Forces of Russia : newspaper. - No. 4 (139). - April 2008.
• Yamshchikov S.V. Empire is not a mystery // Tomorrow: newspaper. - No. 8 (744). - 02.20.2008.

Against

• Zavolsky D. "Return to Constantinople, or Riding on the island of the Simple-minded" // LiveJournal
• Zavolsky D. "The Tale of the Perdition of the Swabranian Kingdom" // Our Time , No. 213. 05/05/2008
• Zanemonets A. The film "Byzantine lesson through the eyes of a historian . " // Regions.ru , 02/18/2008
• Lebedev V.P. "Byzantine Syndrome" // Swan , 17-02-2008
• Mozhegov V. The Fatal Symphony . (unavailable link) // NG Religions , February 20, 2008
• Ivanov S. A. "Facts based on events." // The Daily Journal , 02/01/2008
• Muravyov A. V. "The shadow of Gibbon over the ruins of Constantinople." // Portal-Credo.Ru
• Deacon Alexander Musin "If you happen to be born in the empire, you must know the lessons of Byzantium." // Portal-Credo.Ru , 02.20.2008
• Novodvorskaya V. I. “So that the land in Istanbul will be given to the Chekists”. // Grani.ru , February 12, 2008
• Peresedov I. In the right place put a cross . // New newspaper No. 08 of February 4, 2008
• Revzin G.I.The death of history. The lessons of father Tikhon. // Newspaper Kommersant , January 31, 2008
• Stroev S. A. "Bear agitprop in the Byzantine surroundings." "CONTRTV.RU", February 26, 2008
• Falikov B.Z. The Battle of the Kremlin Shepherds // Gazeta.ru
• Kholmogorova N. "Is It Easy to Be a Byzantine?" // Political News Agency , 02/04/2008
• "Russia and its history: A Byzantine sermon." The Economist , February 14, 2008
• “Byzantine lesson” (A selection of reviews and interviews)

Opinion of representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church

• The historical assessments of Archimandrite Tikhon in the film "Byzantine Lesson" are his personal interpretation - Metropolitan Cyril. Commentary by the Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of Metropolitan Kirill (Gundyaev) // Interfax-Religion , February 20, 2008

Opinion of the authors of the film

• Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) . "Power has nothing to do with it." Kommersant , No. 15 (3832 dated February 1, 2008
• Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) . "The main reason for the fall of Byzantium is the spiritual decay of the elite." " Results ", No. 9 (611) of February 25, 2008
• “Byzantine Mirror” (conversation with the Byzantologist Pavel Kuzenkov, scientific advisor to the film). Moskovsky Komsomolets , No. 24690 dated February 12, 2008
• Meeting of the author of the film "Byzantine Lesson" with students of Moscow theological schools. Video recording, transcript. Bogoslov.Ru , September 17, 2008

Others

• Premiere of the film in Athens. Report from Greece. News , October 20, 2009