ABSTRACT
The study of differing cultures is somewhat modern. It has been pursued in recent times, with an immense wealth of erudition, by Arnold Toynbee. There is, however, one aspect in the history of cultures which he does not seem to me to have adequately emphasized. I mean the changes which most cultures undergo with the lapse of time. There are some features common to young cultures, and others common to old ones, and these are, to a considerable extent, independent of the particular characteristics of the cultures in question. Most cultures begin with a revolt of some class or nation or creed against what they consider unjust treatment. But after they have conquered an important place in the world, they lose their original rebellious features and become a help in the maintenance of stable government. Perhaps I should say a few words as to what is to be meant by a ‘culture’. I should mean a system of beliefs, or at least of habits,
an artistic or intellectual tradition, and ways of making social coherence possible. There are two ways in which a culture may die: one is by foreign conquest, and the other is by a new native culture. Foreign conquest destroyed the Minoan and Mycenaean civilization, though important elements of it were incorporated in the later civilization of Greece. The Aztec and Peruvian civilizations were completely exterminated by the Spaniards and contributed practically nothing to the subsequent culture of the regions in which they had flourished. The most outstanding example of the growth of a new culture from within is that of Christianity in the Roman Empire.
