The basic aspects of human existence and the great questions associated with it evolve, but remain essentially the same, over time and place. The various expressions of SPICE demonstrate the sameness and differences in human life in the Byzantine and Islamic Empires.

The concepts of SPICE that most clearly demonstrate the sameness and differences of human life in the two Empires are the government, the religion, and the arts. The government of the Byzantine Empire put the Emperor in absolute power, with an approved bureaucracy behind him or her to carry out his orders. Because its government was honest and well-liked by the general people of Byzantium, the population of the great Empire was very loyal to their government, which brought peace to the kingdom. In the Islamic Empire, the government was run by officials of the Islam religion. Many of the laws passed had a basis in...