Byzantium in its thousand-year journey performed a dual task: it transmitted the Christian light in a systematic and official manner and contributed to the spread of the Greek-Christian spirit in the East. At the same time, it stood unwavering as a frontier between the West and the East, repelling one after another the various barbarians who, in endless waves, sought to cover Christian East and West. The Greek Empire, a fearless breaker of waves, protected not only its own holy and sacred things for a whole millennium, but also the whole of Europe, and emerged as the most fervent protector of Orthodox Christian faith. Furthermore, it preserved intact the ancient Greek intellectual heritage and handed it down as a sacred legacy to modern Hellenism. [...]

(excerpt from the author's preface)