AHC: Byzantine splinter states

Maybe having the periphery rebel isn't that effective, could you have the region drift away slowly like the previous Northern Italian Byzantine territories?

Sure. Sardinia would be an example - the island never "officially" left the empire, but the fall of Africa and Sicily to the Muslims completely severed it from imperial power. The Sardinians preserved the Greek rite and a Late Roman/Byzantine inflected social structure and style of governance, and maintained a formal (albeit purely nominal) allegiance to Constantinople for some time after the empire effectively retreated from the Western Mediterranean. Eventually, however, most of these influences were superseded as Sardinia was pulled into the Latin orbit.

So yes, a portion of the empire could indeed drift away if cut off from the imperial center. Sufficient distance will do the job of large armies. How long that portion would remain recognizably "Byzantine," however, is another question, as those peripheral territories tended to have native cultures of their own, and once cut off from the cultural influence of Constantinople they would be vulnerable to other sources of influence and control.

Whether Sardinia might have kept some of its Byzantine structures and traditions longer if it had been united, and thus more able to resist outside influence or at least deal with the Latins from a position of greater unity and strength, is an interesting question. Alas, I haven't seen any medieval Sardinian TLs here yet...
 
Sure. Sardinia would be an example - the island never "officially" left the empire, but the fall of Africa and Sicily to the Muslims completely severed it from imperial power. The Sardinians preserved the Greek rite and a Late Roman/Byzantine inflected social structure and style of governance, and maintained a formal (albeit purely nominal) allegiance to Constantinople for some time after the empire effectively retreated from the Western Mediterranean. Eventually, however, most of these influences were superseded as Sardinia was pulled into the Latin orbit.

So yes, a portion of the empire could indeed drift away if cut off from the imperial center. Sufficient distance will do the job of large armies. How long that portion would remain recognizably "Byzantine," however, is another question, as those peripheral territories tended to have native cultures of their own, and once cut off from the cultural influence of Constantinople they would be vulnerable to other sources of influence and control.

Whether Sardinia might have kept some of its Byzantine structures and traditions longer if it had been united, and thus more able to resist outside influence or at least deal with the Latins from a position of greater unity and strength, is an interesting question. Alas, I haven't seen any medieval Sardinian TLs here yet...
What was the situation in Italy in the 10th century as the Bulgarian reached their zenith? With the threat of the Arabs from Sicily and the reduced size of the Catapanate the possibility of the region drifting away might have been unlikely, but what if the territory controlled was bigger? Could such a Southern Italy end up relying on local troops more and effectively grow autonomous?
 
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