Bump. Anyone?
If no one is interested this thread can be closed and I apologise for wasting people's time.
Would no Justinian plague be a good POD?
Bump. Anyone?
If no one is interested this thread can be closed and I apologise for wasting people's time.
That would help immensely, along with a quick conquest of Italy. With those you'd have an Italy with a much larger population, a stronger economy and far greater urbanization.Would no Justinian plague be a good POD?
Also, you might be able to have Latin survive for much longer and as Theodora survives, more women's rights.
She did? Thought it was the plague. If she does die the same way, then nothing changes.I'm not entirely sure how no plague equals surviving Theodora equals womens' rights. Theodora died of cancer, for one thing.
Only way this would work is (a) an end to attempts to impose a rigid Orthodoxy on churches in provinces; (b) the development of firearms and other scientific and technological developments thereafter, especially advanced sailing ships. Without firearms, the overextended empire had too many frontiers to defend and had to depend on extremely expensive heavy cavalry, mercenaries, a navy of galley ships, the building of heavy walls around every town or city near the frontiers, and a system of signal towers stretching from the borders back towards the center of the Empire. This all meant very heavy taxes that stifled economic growth. The Byzantines were faced with a simple equation: develop new tools of war or die. They did do this to a limited extent in the Middle Byzantine period, as by solving logistics problems via the use of mule trains and basing the cavalry on sizeable land grants to well-to-do peasants in return for their equipping and providing for military service one or more of the family's sons. But it wasn't enough.