Light In The West

[mspence]

WI the Western half of the Roman Empire had been able to survive instead of the East; what might it have looked like during a comparable time for the Byzantine empire in the 5th-6th centuries?

 

[SunKing105]

How exactly do you accomplish this? West Rome was more exposed to Germanic incursions, poorer, and less defensible.

 

[TyranicusMaximus]

It's certainly going to be a less urbanized Empire than the East was until the Heraclian dynasty. In terms of population it's not entirely as lopsided as the revenues were. The western half was larger in geographic terms however, and thus requires more troops to hold. With the lower revenues this is a serious problem. Fortunately in the long run the territory the Western Roman Empire held will be more fertile. The problem is getting to that point intact.