Why is ‘Byzantine’ used to describe excessive bureaucracy? Was Byzantium really an administrative mess?
In: Other
It wasn’t excessive bureaucracy so much as it was “complex and unwritten”. It’s not simply a matter of navigating the bureaucracy (which was very complex), so much as learning how to “play the game”.
This could mean “following the insane opaque rules”, but it could also mean winning favor of various people, paying them off, horse trading, etc. Plots within plots. You had to have allies, you had to know when to bribe, when to bluster through, etc.
The point is that to an outsider, none of it makes sense. It seems to work. Mostly. But you have no idea why some things happen and others don’t. The “bureaucracy” was an excuse for the complex personal interactions.
Latest Answers