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Keep in mind that during the siege, the Ottomans utterly wrecked and destroyed the remaining Byz. possessions in Thrace and in Europe. With the exception of a few tiny, poor islands and slivers of land elsewhere, Constantinople was an utter island in an Ottoman sea. Even under the best of...

There is still potential for a Jewish state, just that there are so many odds stacked against it in the classical era. Even if the Romans could be removed as a threat, the Jewish state would still have to come to grips with Persia. Maybe you could move the date up to the Ottoman era? Perhaps a...

While I technically agree with this statement, I think that had Byzantium continued its upswing after Manuel's death (instead of the downward spiral we see in OTL), an eventual reconquest of central and eastern Asia Minor was quite possible. 1204 really, really was the worst possible thing that...

I agree, I think the notion that the Themes were some kind of empire saving panacea is an antiquated one, and is an idea that needs to be challenged. However, the system did provide the means for the Empire to survive the crisis in a really unheard of way that really lacks acknowledgment. I...

Well the Theme system didn't really 'collapse' though, it was just phased out over time, especially in the safer and more productive parts of Western Asia Minor. The funds raised from Thematic land grants were funneled into a variety of things that didn't always relate to defense. IIRC, by the...

Look at the current mainstream attitude towards Obama. Has a white mother, and yet for all intents and purposes, he's considered black. The 'one drop' rule still applies, even in the 21'st century, unfortunately.

Agreed. The Ottomans were all about either absorbing or annihilating the old Byzantine ruling families whenever they could. They represented a grave threat that could be a rallying point for resistance not only by the Orthodox, but Catholic kingdoms in the west at well.

I will have a big update next week, as I am currently quite consumed by my IRL obligations. Expect a great deal of historical diverging from OTL then. Additionally: expect my maps to improve as I continue to make them. More detail, etc. A sample of my ideas: A Vatatzes/Palaiologos civil war...

(cont..) A Thunderbolt From Asia 1235: The Emperor John met the King of Bulgaria at the halfway point between our two brotherly realms. Our gracious and kind Emperor agreed to a treaty that resulted in, among other things, the marriage of the Princess Elena of Bulgaria to our Emperor. Her Greek...

A Thunderbolt From Asia: a Byzantino-Anatolian Saga "Our Emperor John looked grave and solemn upon hearing the accounts of the Turk. He was gracious and wise to give him and his compatriots lodgings, for they had traveled much and appeared to have endured yet more. The man, who was pale and...

Well, apparently something like this happened in OTL. One Aelius Gallus, for instance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aelius_Gallus "When Aelius Gallus set out with his army, he trusted to the guidance of a Nabataean called Syllaeus, who deceived and misled him. A long account of this...

I've recently had the opinion that if (modern) China really, really wanted to, they could take Russia's eastern half without too much effort. I mean, look at the growing disparity between population and GDP. Siberia is pretty sparsely populated, and must look mighty tempting to a country with...

When you see one of the options on a menu at a restaurant is 'hot water' for the style of preparation for corn bread, you know you're in the south.

Utah is far too white to be a Southern state. Also: how about them Mormons.

Do to Western Europe what the Persian/Muslim wars did to Byzantium. Tear it in half, and leave the rest an economically ruined, depopulated wreck. Ruin its cities and push the society that remains into a constantly besieged, socially, religiously and ethnically conservative rump. A society...

Yeah, I think this map sums it up pretty well.

As a southerner, and native of the state of Alabama, I personally consider anything north of the Carolinas to be Yank country. My definition of what is the South consists of what is eastern Texas, over through Oklahoma, Arkansas, past Tennessee and through to the Carolinas. Florida however is...

Now, this is a question I have pondered long and hard. I think it has to do with a wide relative disparity in the strength and modernization of the two respective armies. Additionally, the Middle East was in the midst of a long period of economic, cultural, and scientific stagnation that...

I think the reasons why the Romans were never able to really conquer Mesopotamia were quite similar to why the Persians were never able to fully conquer Egypt or Asia Minor. That, and Mesopotamia would be obvious prey for Persian depredations every generation or so when a new generation was...

Said Byzzies wouldnt do any worse than the Turks did, and the Turks were pretty badly beaten