So Arab Constantinople: What Happens Next?

Except the whole point of the fleet is to stop that from happening. In this case resupply would be easy and they would not suffer as badly in the winter. There will be no food and people will begin starving.

I know that in time the city would starve... But they wouldnt ran out of water since they had an excellent water system... As for food i believe that Constantinople could hold till winter before running out of supplies and the harsh winter of this area would have forced the Arabs to retreat at least temporary thus allowing Constantinople to resuplly from adjacent cities (if not by sea) and then wait for the Arabs to return (if they return).
 
I know that in time the city would starve... But they wouldnt ran out of water since they had an excellent water system... As for food i believe that Constantinople could hold till winter before running out of supplies and the harsh winter of this area would have forced the Arabs to retreat at least temporary thus allowing Constantinople to resuplly from adjacent cities (if not by sea) and then wait for the Arabs to return (if they return).

They're not going to leave. You're being your usual self and wanking the Byzantines out of proportion. Someone's going to open the gate or surrender. They would have no chance of resupply since the Caliph was extremely adamant about not leaving.
 
They're not going to leave. You're being your usual self and wanking the Byzantines out of proportion. Someone's going to open the gate or surrender. They would have no chance of resupply since the Caliph was extremely adamant about not leaving.

I wont disagree but still could the Arabs endure a harsh snowy winter in a place exposed to cold and winds? Common sense says that they would retreat and return the next spring... They have more chances to starve the city if they besiege it in spring till the next autumn rather than wait outside in the cold...

P.S. They didnt surrender in 1453 when they had absolutely 0 chances to survive... Why do it now?
 
Last edited:
I wont disagree but still could the Arabs endure a harsh snowy winter in a place exposed to cold and winds? Common sense says that they would retreat and return the next spring... They have more chances to starve the city if they besiege it in spring till the next autumn rather than wait outside in the cold...

Could the Byzantines endure a harsh snowy winter in a place exposed to cold and winds AS well as running out of fresh, drinkable water and food while being besieged by the Arabs? Without the Greek fire, the Byzantine navy is a lot easier to crush and there will be very little to no resupplying with the Caliphate's forces there. The Byzantines are screwed and I doubt they'll get much assistance from Ravenna. They have their own problems.

P.S. They didnt surrender in 1453 when they had absolutely 0 chances to survive... Why do it now?

And the Byzantines lost to the Turks and they lost to the Crusaders in 1204. It's very difficult but Constantinople can be taken.
 
Could the Byzantines endure a harsh snowy winter in a place exposed to cold and winds AS well as running out of fresh, drinkable water and food while being besieged by the Arabs? Without the Greek fire, the Byzantine navy is a lot easier to crush and there will be very little to no resupplying with the Caliphate's forces there. The Byzantines are screwed and I doubt they'll get much assistance from Ravenna. They have their own problems.



And the Byzantines lost to the Turks and they lost to the Crusaders in 1204. It's very difficult but Constantinople can be taken.

As i said above water isnt the big problem... Constantinople had an excellent water system which could hold the city for at least a year... According to chroniclers city granaries could hold for at least 6 months without resupply... So if you drag the Arabs to a lengthy siege the winter will be against the Arabs... Byzantines would be protected in their homes while Arabs would have to endure a snowy winter in their tents outside the city... That would be difficult... Winter attrition and diseases would force them to withdraw temporarily... They would come back for sure but also Constantinople would be resupplied too...
I wont disagree that Constantinople can be taken but during 8th century is extremely difficult...
 
As i said above water isnt the big problem... Constantinople had an excellent water system which could hold the city for at least a year... According to chroniclers city granaries could hold for at least 6 months without resupply... So if you drag the Arabs to a lengthy siege the winter will be against the Arabs... Byzantines would be protected in their homes while Arabs would have to endure a snowy winter in their tents outside the city... That would be difficult... Winter attrition and diseases would force them to withdraw temporarily...
I wont disagree that Constantinople can be taken but during 8th century is extremely difficult...

But extremely difficult doesn't translate into impossible. And the Arabs have the resources of practically the entire Middle East at their disposal to crush them.
 
But extremely difficult doesn't translate into impossible. And the Arabs have the resources of practically the entire Middle East at their disposal to crush them.

Never said impossible... I said that it is difficult to capture the city with 8th century technology... Plus Constantinople could endure a lengthy siege...
 

Sang

Banned
People are talking about Greco-Roman influences on Islam, and more Greek loanwords in Arabic...

But I think otherwise.
It would be the reverse: Arabic loanwords in Greek.

Either way, the Catholics would become more militant. If the Arabs can hold Constantinapole, then it will be the centre of their empire.
Sure, Greek becomes an important language, and there will be even more Greek loanwords in Arabic... BUT there will be more Arabic loanwords in Greek too. The two languages will influence each other mutually.

Anyway, if the Arabs take Constantinapole, the Turks will also take it later.

The Greeks might convert to Islam like the Bosniaks and Albanians did, or create a Greek-Christian identity (like the Spaniards), and ask for the Westerners to help: an Eastern Reconquista.
 
- With the Arab armies bogged down in the Balkans, and then in civil war, expansion further West is likely delayed for a century or more. I'd expect the Exarch of Ravenna or Carthage- or even both- to declare themselves Emperors of the Romans. We may see a gradual reconstitution of a WRE like state, at least in Italy and North Africa. In Spain, the Visigothic kings continue to behave like Roman Emperors, and their kingdom stabilises further. The Catholic Church could well become more militant, adopting ideas of Holy War much earlier than OTL.

I'm somewhat skeptical about this. North Africa and Sicily don't have the resources that the Byzantines had to draw on in OTL; the administrative and economic heart of the empire by this point was Constantinople and the Aegean.

And it's not like the Lombards won't still be around in Italy to mess with any Byzantine successor state ideas...
 
I know that in time the city would starve... But they wouldnt ran out of water since they had an excellent water system... As for food i believe that Constantinople could hold till winter before running out of supplies and the harsh winter of this area would have forced the Arabs to retreat at least temporary thus allowing Constantinople to resuplly from adjacent cities (if not by sea) and then wait for the Arabs to return (if they return).

Wasn't the Byzantine water supply carried in via aqueducts?
 
Wasn't the Byzantine water supply carried in via aqueducts?

Yes but all wells and cisterns were inside the city... Byzantines didnt carry water from outside the walls. Constantine made sure that Constantinople would never ran out of water by opening new wells and building cisterns... Only the Great Cistern (built by Justinian) could hold water for 6 months alone... All the other cisterns (Aetius's, Valens's etc) could hold for another 6 months. So water shortage wasnt possible...
Plus (i ve forgot it earlier) Byzantines could take fresh water from Lykos river which flow near Constantinian Walls... And if the enemy poisoned the river they could always take water from cisterns...
 
Arab Constantinople

This really makes conditions completely different in the west. You might have a completely different outcome at Tours in 732, if most of eastern Europe has already been over-run by Islam. Or if the Arabs are defeated at Tours, another invastion is more likely. I see a southern Islamic Europe stretching from the Bosporous to Spain.
 
This really makes conditions completely different in the west. You might have a completely different outcome at Tours in 732, if most of eastern Europe has already been over-run by Islam. Or if the Arabs are defeated at Tours, another invastion is more likely. I see a southern Islamic Europe stretching from the Bosporous to Spain.

I think the question no one is asking here is:

How badly would the Arabs be bogged down in the Balkans?

If it is too bad, I doubt they'll be able to successfully defeat the Visigoths forty years later, let alone the Franks.
 
Top