A Study of History, Vol 6

Title: A Study of History, Vol 6 – The Disintegrations of Civilizations, Part 2

Author: Arnold Joseph Toynbee

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1985 (First published 1939)

ISBN: 978-0-19-215213-8

Pages: 633

Toynbee completes another episode of his legendary course of analyzing history in this sixth volume by making a thorough analysis of disintegration of societies that completes the theme started with the previous volume. Curious it may seem, but the challenges and responses faced by a growing society are numerous, but that of a disintegrating society is the same, in which the hapless constituents go about repeating or varying a response that is proving out and out ineffective. In this sorry state of affairs, epic figures arise with promises of change and transformation. The nature and scope of these new paths are studied and analysed in this volume. Though heavily coloured with a partisanship to Christianity and its philosophy, the book provides a deep understanding of the peculiar juncture in history when a higher religion spouts from a mixture of creativity and despair.

The book begins with a further enquiry into the nature and characteristics of a disintegrating society. Religion takes an interesting turn here. As noted in the previous volume, the disintegrating phase is noted for internecine warfare between the states which finally results in unification in the political realm in the form of a Universal State and an emperor displaying pretensions to divinity. In the theological arena too, the need for unity finds expression. Different godheads merge into a pantheon, or a jealous god obliterates all others and assumes the supreme position by itself. Yahweh, the Syriac god of Judaism and Christianity fought a pitched battle with other gods and goddesses like Isis, Cybele and Mithras. These latter godheads were accommodating in nature and willing to compromise for a cooperative existence. But Yahweh’s intransigence and intolerant jealousy carried it forward to destroy all opposition on the religious front. A comparison is immediately made to India’s own pantheon. At the end of Gupta period, when the civilization was disintegrating, Hinduism slowly converged on two foci of divinities in the form of Shiva and Vishnu. These gods still exist, for the lucky chance that they didn’t had had to contend with a competitor of the genre of Yahweh and both of them were willing to accommodate the other to a great extent.

Toynbee discusses four methods by which a society trying to evade the excruciating circumstances of the slide to disintegration. Archaism is a favourite option in which the society wants to go back to a real or perceived golden past. Obviously, they can’t turn the clock back, but the nearest that can be achieved is a reversion to old customs, rejuvenation of a ritual or language that existed during the hypothetical past. An illustrative case in point is that of Classical Greek language, which is termed Attic Koiny that was in everyday use in Athens during 5^th century BCE, when the Hellenic civilization was in its growth. Later scholars also used the same language for their literary work even though it had lost all touch with everyday reality in the sense that it was not intelligible to ordinary citizens of the Greek state. Attic Greek continued to be used in places geographically far away from Athens and in times which are distant from the Classical Age. Similar is the case with Indian Sanskrit. The author expresses the opinion that Indian epics were written in a language that had already become archaic at the time of writing them down. Futurism is a counterargument to Archaism in which the protagonists try to carry the society to a future age according to the ideals set down by a leader or a prophet. This movement provides a strong impetus to move to an as yet unclear future goal in which the present-day religion and customs may get transformed. But in the final analysis, this is also bound to fail. Detachment and Transformation are the other two choices available to a moribund society. The former applies to philosophers who maintain a detached state of mind as regards the society at large and transformationists seek to put together a transformed ideal for the society. Toynbee’s survey of saviours of society in the form of swordsmen, archaists and futurists ends with the glorification of Christ as a savior god and is projected as the ideal way forward for any society in disintegration. Feels like evangelization? Pretty much sounds like it! The book falls to the level of a religious treatise with quotations from the Bible running all over the text. May be this excessive sanctification of the Christian faith precludes any relevance to the ideas conveyed to a modern audience. The author’s culmination of Christ’s glorification is comic in the final remark: “As we stand and gaze with our eyes fixed upon the farther shore, a single figure rises from the flood and straightaway fills the whole horizon” (p.278)

The fundamental principle underlying the disintegration of a civilization was first enunciated in the previous volume (Vol 5), which is again clarified and established beyond doubt in this volume too. There is differentiation in the trajectories of societies in growth, as the growth phase is marked by Challenge and Response, in which the society goes on finding successful responses to the multitudinous challenges that are generated by the response to a previous challenge. But the disintegrative phase is marked by a colourless uniformity that applies equally well to all representatives of the species called civilizations. Here, the society is faced with a challenge, for which it is unable to come up with a solution. Many responses may be offered as solutions, but none of them suits the bill. This may go on till the civilization itself is dissolved in the turbulent state of affairs the society is forced to encounter. In any case, the steady slide to doom is not a continuous one. There are bound to be semi-victorious offerings occurring in the body social. Toynbee calls this Rout and Rally. When the society is faced with a rout that commonly appears as internecine warfare, there may be a rally to bring ecumenical peace in the form of a universal state, which is the rallying point. This is not permanent however, and is bound to end up in another rout, which is followed by another rally. After exactly three-and-a-half cycles of these phenomena of Rout and Rally, the civilization goes into irretrievable dissolution. A horde of examples modeled on various civilizations separated by vast tracts of time and geography stands testimony to this fact. The author illustrated the idea of differentiation in growth and uniformity in dissolution by recounting the brilliant parable of Penelope’s Web from Greek legend. Penelope’s husband, Odysseus, had gone to war and the lady is faced with the prospect of suitors claiming her hand in marriage, which is repugnant to her as she is loyal to her husband in exile. She agrees to marry them, but only after finishing the weaving of the burial shroud of her father-in-law. For three years, she sets about the task, weaving in daytime and secretly untangling the threads at night, so that the work is delayed indefinitely. She has an infinite number of patterns to weave the fabric into, but exactly only one way in which to draw the threads apart to destroy what she had done in the day. Similar is the case with civilizations in their growth and disintegrative phases respectively.

The most notable part of this volume is a 164-page annex titled ‘Christus Patiens’ that makes a careful study of the Gospels and the seemingly close resemblance they maintain with the legends associated to pagan, Hellenic heores, divinities, historical personages or demigods. The author identifies 89 points of corrsespondence between the synoptic Gospels and identical narratives of the lives of Agis, Cleomenes, the Gracchi and also that of Alexander, Socrates and Plato. A close similarity to the mythical hero Hercules is also sewed up into the sequence. However, he does not accuse the writers of the Gospels of plagiarism. These legends were transmitted to various parts of the Hellenic world through folk lore from a common source which might be Hellenic in origin. A possible route may be through Alexandria in the post-Alexandrine era and from there to Palestine through mercenary Jewish soldiers employed by the Ptolemaic regime. Alexandria was a melting pot of cultures with soldiers and scholars converging on the city from all parts of Greece, Egypt, Syria and the Achaemenian territories. What is really noteworthy is not the argument per se, but the immense amount of scholarship that has gone into this illuminating chapter that refers to myriads of Greek literary texts. This annex is a very valuable piece of scholarship that is rare in its comprehensive outlook. If someone is to look for the heart of this volume, this annex may undoubtedly be pointed out as the gem he is looking for.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 4 Star