“Philanthropy in Byzantium was not practiced as a result of coercion on the part of State machinery or the Emperor as is sometimes the case by socialist societies today. It was a voluntary manifestation of love and human consideration. The Byzantine Empire was not a socialist state. Its welfare program did not destroy self-reliance, self-respect, or initiative. Byzantine phlanthropy did not make the poor servile and dependent, weak in charcter, resigned or parasitic….the Byzantines believed that ‘if anyone will not work, let him not eat,,” – Byzantine Philanthropy And Social Welfare; Demtrios J. Constanelos; page 203.
Interesting…
The Beautiful Path 