To historians brought up on the conflicts between Papacy and Empire in the medieval West, it has often seemed that the Church was a mere department of state in Byzantium.

• 对于那些在中世纪成长并目睹了教皇统治与帝国冲突的西方历史学家来说，教会在拜占庭似乎仅仅是国家的一个部门。