Quote:
Originally Posted by raymo
I fail to see the connection between the battle of Manzikert and the Roman
Empire, as the Roman Empire ceased to exist almost 600yrs before that
battle.
raymo
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Depends which historians you read.
Some refute the part about the Roman Empire falling in 476, because it had moved to Constantinople a century and a half earlier - taking with it nearly all the bureaucracy and administrators necessary to run an empire, and that what eventually became known as the Western Roman Empire was just a shell, an empire in name only.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Roman Empire just kept growing and was the wealthiest place on the planet for centuries. The historians suggest that the myth of a real, viable Western Roman empire collapsing, was pushed strongly by the British Empire in the 19th century as propaganda. The term "Byzantine" was given to the Eastern Roman Empire by historians centuries after it fell, but they called themselves Romans, and proudly traced themselves back to Rome.
After the Eastern Roman Empire lost at Mazikert, they lost Anatolia to the Muslims. They then regained it, only to find that the Muslims had destroyed it - and, whereas they could previously raise some 40 divisons from it (the bulk of their army), now they could barely raise two or three divisions. So they had to survive the next nearly four centuries relying on the superior military tactics and mercenaries, though it was the Venetians of the Fourth Crusade who effectively did them in.
Regards,
Renato
