Islamic Rome

Is a Roman or Byzantine Empire converted to Islam possible? Would it stand? What would other Islamic powers think of this?
 
Are you thinking of Islamic forces overpowering Byzantium and installing an Islamic rulership? Or of a Byzantine Emperor voluntarily adopting Islam and pressuring his subjects to convert as well?

For the former, either of the Arab sieges succeeding could have seen (parts of) Byzantium added to the Umayyad Caliphate, with perhaps a later restoration of Byzantium under a breakaway "Byzantine Sultan."

For the latter, I'll leave it to the Byzantium experts on the board to suggest an Emperor (or imperial claimant) who may have been tempted to convert to Islam at some point.
 
Are you thinking of Islamic forces overpowering Byzantium and installing an Islamic rulership? Or of a Byzantine Emperor voluntarily adopting Islam and pressuring his subjects to convert as well?

For the former, either of the Arab sieges succeeding could have seen (parts of) Byzantium added to the Umayyad Caliphate, with perhaps a later restoration of Byzantium under a breakaway "Byzantine Sultan."

For the latter, I'll leave it to the Byzantium experts on the board to suggest an Emperor (or imperial claimant) who may have been tempted to convert to Islam at some point.

What I meant was the latter, but what I'm most interested in the reaction of the Islamic world.
 
No way an Emperor converts. It goes against the Orthodoxy integral to Romanity, disrupts imperial symphonia and would see him overthrown. He'd have no incentive.
 
Technically, when the Byzies fell in 1453, the ottomans claimed the title "Sultan of Rum" which means Sultan of Rome, which is kind of what you're going for? Otherwise it's ASB.
 
I mean, if Islam arose as a sect of Christianity, such as miaphysitism that gained converts within the empire, I can see an emperor following that particular branch (much like Anastasius was a Miaphysite), but other than that, Islam in its OTL form was never going to win the conversion of a Byzantine Emperor.
 
I've seen a timeline where someone pulled this off. Basically it was when Muhammed sent letters to all the imperial powers, and the Byzantine Emperor converts as an attempt to unify Miaphysitism and Nicene.
 

Cryostorm

Monthly Donor
I mean, if Islam arose as a sect of Christianity, such as miaphysitism that gained converts within the empire, I can see an emperor following that particular branch (much like Anastasius was a Miaphysite), but other than that, Islam in its OTL form was never going to win the conversion of a Byzantine Emperor.

Wasn't Islam viewed as a, very successful, Christian heresy for centuries, I believe up to the crusades, instead of a separate religion entirely.
 
Wasn't Islam viewed as a, very successful, Christian heresy for centuries, I believe up to the crusades, instead of a separate religion entirely.

I'm not sure, but I was more referring to, say, what Nestorianism or Manicheism was to the Persians or Arianism or Miphysitism to the Byzantines.
 
Have we considered the possibility of an Islamic caliphate extending to the city of Rome itself?

I'm not much of a medievalist, though I have taken a couple classes on Islamic history, so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. But could it be possible for the Umayyad splinter that overtook Spain to extend its reach to the Italian peninsula somehow? I will leave discussion of this point to those who know a lot more about medieval history than I do (I tend to focus on modernity with a special focus on American politics), but it seems intriguing to me.

I realize that this idea kind of goes against OP's question, as they were asking about an Islamic Byzantine Empire (which was really the Roman Empire, just identified by a different name in modern historiography for clarity), but the idea of an Islamic state in Rome itself intrigues me.
 
Have we considered the possibility of an Islamic caliphate extending to the city of Rome itself?

I'm not much of a medievalist, though I have taken a couple classes on Islamic history, so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. But could it be possible for the Umayyad splinter that overtook Spain to extend its reach to the Italian peninsula somehow? I will leave discussion of this point to those who know a lot more about medieval history than I do (I tend to focus on modernity with a special focus on American politics), but it seems intriguing to me.

I realize that this idea kind of goes against OP's question, as they were asking about an Islamic Byzantine Empire (which was really the Roman Empire, just identified by a different name in modern historiography for clarity), but the idea of an Islamic state in Rome itself intrigues me.
Perhaps expanding from Islamic Sicily?
 
Perhaps, yeah. I didn't even know that there was an Islamic presence in Sicily until you mentioned it. Seems like a good jumping off point to me.
 
It wouldn't be too far fetched to see Muslims take Rome for a little while. IOTL they raided the suburbs, so they can definitely get there.

Holding it would be a different beast entirely. They would need a miracle to hold it for more than 10 or even 5 years
 
Muslims got Sicily and a good amount of Southern Italy under their control for awhile, they could potentially take Rome itself. But if they succeed expect a crusade by all of Christendom, to lose Rome would threaten the very collapse of the Catholic faith.
 
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