No doubt this hypothetical pattern did apply at times

　　during the course of the recovery. Yet it is not clear that

　　military advances invariably came first， economic

　　advances second， and intellectual advances third. In the

　　（40） 860's the Byzantine Empire began to recover from Arab

　　incursions so that by 872 the military balance with the

　　Abbasid Caliphate had been permanently altered in the

　　empire's favor. The beginning of the empire's economic

　　revival， however， can be placed between 810 and 830

　　（45） Finally， the Byzantine revival of learning appears to

　　have begun even earlier. A number of notable scholars

　　and writers appeared by 788 and， by the last decade of

　　the eighth century， a cultural revival was in full bloom， a

　　revival that lasted until the fall of Constantinople in

　　（50） 1453.Thus the commonly expected order of military

　　revival followed by economic and then by cultural

　　recovery was reversed in Byzantium. In fact， the revival

　　of Byzantine learning may itself have influenced the

　　subsequent economic and military expansion.

　　1. Which of the following best states the central idea of

　　the passage？

　　（A） The Byzantine Empire was a unique case in

　　which the usual order of military and economic

　　revival preceding cultural revival was reversed.

　　（B） The economic， cultural， and military revival in the

　　Byzantine Empire between the eighth and

　　eleventh centuries was similar in its order to the

　　sequence of revivals in Augustan Rome and fifth-

　　century Athens.

　　（C） After 810 Byzantine economic recovery spurred a

　　military and， later， cultural expansion that lasted

　　until 1453.

　　（D） The eighth-century revival of Byzantine learning

　　is an inexplicable phenomenon， and its economic

　　and military precursors have yet to be discovered.