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While, certainly, structural reforms of the Byzantine state were critically needed, the fact is that Manzikert was lost due to the immediate desertion of a large part of the army. Calling the Comnenian era Byzantine state a 'festering corpse' is analogous to calling the Ottoman state in its...

Spain was a flight of fancy. The peninsula should be kept divided and under mutually warring yet friendly client kingdoms. Send bishops, maintain economic and social contacts but leave the peninsula to its own designs. Any money or troops sent to Spain are a waste.

Not necessarily. The provinces conquered by Belisarius needed a period of time to recover, to reintegrate into the empire. Without the chronic insecurity and manpower shortages that were partially the result of the Italian expeditions, the empire could focus piecemeal on the security of Africa...

Things would turn out a lot differently. Africa and Sicily would still likely be conquered by Belisarius. Then, Justinian would most certainly divert all remaining imperial resources to a massive eastern war with Persia, which was inevitable. A definitive early conclusion to Persian...

The Balkans probably would have served the Crusaders well as a supply base, if they weren't being pillaged by the Normans or by various steppe barbarians/ uncooperative Crusaders. What did you expect the Byzantines to do? They feared from the start that the Crusaders wanted Constantinople, and...

The Greeks were so special because they were able to maintain political continuity with Augustus. Even right up to 1204 (and arguably beyond that, to 1453) the Byzantines were able to rightly claim a direct line of political succession to the very founding fathers of modern European...

The fact that the Nicaean state established in the aftermath of 1204 was fully viable is evidence that by that time the area had recovered and become self-sustaining. Byzantine Anatolia was recovering, but it took time and - above all - security, which was cut short by political instability and...

I think this is a really solid point, and is kind of irrefutable. This proves that the Empire was at the very brink of destruction during the Arab conquests. They had to withstand continuous Arab raids, and maintain and rebuild a war torn and devastated Anatolia. I am honestly at a loss as to...

What must also be remembered is that there were very effective natural barriers on the eastern borders of Anatolia. Cilicia, the Taurus Mountains, the Euphrates all contributed to the Romans ultimately being able to maintain (at least to a certain degree) and defend the core of Anatolia from...

Maintain Byzantine (and thus: Christian) dominance in Asia Minor and the Caucasus will always have a very powerful, densely populated Christian neighbor to keep the Muslims from becoming overly dominant in the Caucasus. While you could turn the clock back to say: Yarmuk, I think keeping...

The fact that this rich and affluent civilization lacks Catholic Christianity would make it a target for continuous aggression from westward moving European adventurers. Would likely collapse and end up being ridden with plague and sacked/destroyed/enslaved as the natives had been.

I am of the opinion, from what I have read (numerous general Byzantine history books, ie: Treadgold, Ostrogorsky, Vryonis) that had the Byzantines had more unity during the later 12th and early 13th centuries, (including repelling the 4th Crusade) that they could have eventually reintegrated...

Bunch of hogwash. The 'oriental' and largely Hellenized Byzantine Empire that was the spiritual and political successor of the Roman Imperial legacy lasted for a thousand years, and was able to disprove that tired old (and racist) notion of certain 'races' being superior by virtue of age...

While it certainly is very debatable if Basil was anywhere near as skilled a commander as his predecessors (Nicephorus, John), he did seem to make up for it with his commanding personality and the 'image' he built for himself as a mighty warrior-emperor. If his army had a strong officer corps...

I always wondered how a figure so obviously competent as Basil II could have left such inept people around to succeed him. Why he didn't adopt a half-decent general of his as Caesar and 'bring him in' to the family as it were is beyond me. He had to have known how terribly his nieces and...

Lets say Basil II lives another 10 years (instead of dying in 1025) and personally leads his armies while campaigning in Italy and Sicily. He would be the first Roman Emperor to personally command an army in Italy since Constans II in the 660's. His presence could have solidified morale and...

While I find it distasteful to do so, I must bump

John Tzimisces ruled over the Byzantine Empire (Romania) within the period of its medieval apex. He inherited arguably the most powerful army in the Mediterranean basin from his successors. The state was flourishing during a period of apparent demographic boom, and the military accomplishments...