Byzantine complexity: Difference between revisions

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'''Byzantine complexity''' is a phrase used to refer to anything overly and unnecessarily complex; so complex as to be completely beyond understanding. (ThereThis isterm aoften also [[[connotation | connotes]] that it a is not ''worth'' understanding.)

== History ==

The [[Byzantine Empire]] was the end result of centuries of [[Roman Empire|Roman]] rule and [[Bureaucracy|bureaucratic]] growth. TheDuring endthis resultera combination of the combinationgrowth of the [[aristocracy | aristocratic class]]{{fact}}<!--need evidence to show why this cause Byzantism-->, the remnantsdifficulties of theadministering an increasingly expanding [[Roman republic]], andled time wasto a complex and opaque system of [[government]] that no one who had not grown up inside it had more than amuch hope of understanding. (And many inside felt they had no hope of understanding.) In fact, it was ''so'' complex that its very complexity became a watchword in surrounding areas and in governments that had to deal with it that the term 'Byzantine complexity' became a general term that was and is used to describe any overly complex system.

In fact, it was ''so'' complex that governments that had to deal with the Roman governement used the term 'Byzantine complexity' to refer to it{{fact}}.<!--need to show that this isn't a just a modern development, e.g. coined by historians--> Over time, 'Byzantine Complexity' became a general term used to describe any overly complex system.

==See also==