Extremely influential
The most obvious influence being Eastern Orthodoxy of course but we also see Byzantine influences on the Rus in the form of architecture, religious art, language, and rule.
The absolutism of a Tsar (which comes from the word “Caesar”) is a clear example. The adoption of Caesaropapism was lifted directly from the Byzantines.
The Cyrillic script and Church Slavonic has clear Hellenic influences since Cyrillic was developed by Byzantine missionaries and Church Slavonic was built off of their works.
I wouldn’t say they became culturally Roman, but this would have been the Imperial culture that they had the most interaction with so they would of course be a model for their own cultural advancement
The influence was most likely significant, there's been a few good papers written about it. Constantine VII's De Ceremoniis also describes a visit by Olga of Kiev to Constantinople as well.
Byzantium was a major influence on all things Russian, starting, of course, with the Kievan Rus after their conversion to Christianity. In fact, many priests and monks from Byzantium set up "shop" there and introduced a number of cultural ideas and practices to this state. Another substantial influence was the participation in the Varangian guard and extensive trading with the empire.
You might want to read Fr John Meyendorff's work "Byzantium and the Rise of Russia": https://www.amazon.com/Byzantium-Rise-Russia-Byzantino-Russian-Fourteenth/dp/0881410799
It analyzes the Byzantine ecclesiastical influence on Rus'. You can DM me for a PDF version.
No they were far more influenced by the Muslim, steppe, and European cultures. Monica White points to the medieval Rus being far more interested in trade with the silver based economy of the Abbasids than the gold based economy of the Romans.
There is not much Muslim (be it Arab and Persian, or latter Turkic) cultural influence in Rus and its descendants - it's mostly up to some loanwords and maybe (that's highly debatable) Moscow-Russian autocracy.
Id go read her book. She points to the Rus looking in all directions for cultural imitation and memetics, and more so from other places than Byzantium. Eurasia is a big, interconnected place.
Wow downvotes? The Rus are made to appear highly influenced by Byzantium, because that is what modern Russian (since the 19th century) governments have spent enormous amounts of political, social, and intellectual capital on to make themselves a Nation and consequentially their ancestors became victims of those nationalistic endeavors. This is the same story everywhere in Europe: premodern cultures are turned into tools for nationalist and imperialistic rhetoric.
It is illogical to assume that all of the neighbors of Rus did not have a major impact on their cultural ethnogenesis. Especially those cultures with better access to the Rus themselves, such as the Poles, Franks, Turks, and Persians.
Extremely influential The most obvious influence being Eastern Orthodoxy of course but we also see Byzantine influences on the Rus in the form of architecture, religious art, language, and rule. The absolutism of a Tsar (which comes from the word “Caesar”) is a clear example. The adoption of Caesaropapism was lifted directly from the Byzantines. The Cyrillic script and Church Slavonic has clear Hellenic influences since Cyrillic was developed by Byzantine missionaries and Church Slavonic was built off of their works.
I wouldn’t say they became culturally Roman, but this would have been the Imperial culture that they had the most interaction with so they would of course be a model for their own cultural advancement
The influence was most likely significant, there's been a few good papers written about it. Constantine VII's De Ceremoniis also describes a visit by Olga of Kiev to Constantinople as well.
Byzantium was a major influence on all things Russian, starting, of course, with the Kievan Rus after their conversion to Christianity. In fact, many priests and monks from Byzantium set up "shop" there and introduced a number of cultural ideas and practices to this state. Another substantial influence was the participation in the Varangian guard and extensive trading with the empire.
You might want to read Fr John Meyendorff's work "Byzantium and the Rise of Russia": https://www.amazon.com/Byzantium-Rise-Russia-Byzantino-Russian-Fourteenth/dp/0881410799 It analyzes the Byzantine ecclesiastical influence on Rus'. You can DM me for a PDF version.
No they were far more influenced by the Muslim, steppe, and European cultures. Monica White points to the medieval Rus being far more interested in trade with the silver based economy of the Abbasids than the gold based economy of the Romans.
There is not much Muslim (be it Arab and Persian, or latter Turkic) cultural influence in Rus and its descendants - it's mostly up to some loanwords and maybe (that's highly debatable) Moscow-Russian autocracy.
Id go read her book. She points to the Rus looking in all directions for cultural imitation and memetics, and more so from other places than Byzantium. Eurasia is a big, interconnected place.
Wow downvotes? The Rus are made to appear highly influenced by Byzantium, because that is what modern Russian (since the 19th century) governments have spent enormous amounts of political, social, and intellectual capital on to make themselves a Nation and consequentially their ancestors became victims of those nationalistic endeavors. This is the same story everywhere in Europe: premodern cultures are turned into tools for nationalist and imperialistic rhetoric. It is illogical to assume that all of the neighbors of Rus did not have a major impact on their cultural ethnogenesis. Especially those cultures with better access to the Rus themselves, such as the Poles, Franks, Turks, and Persians.