The Fall of Byzantium

What would it take to have the Eastern Roman Empire collapse before the WRE? What would be the consequences of this?
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
A stronger Persian threat, and some reason for the barbarians to focus their attacks on the Eastern Empire instead of the Western Empire.
 
I've played around with a timeline where the Frigidus goes the other way and pagan rule restored in the western empire. Theodosius is killed and the eastern empire thrown into disorder. If Arbogast, the effective western emperor is unable to establish his rule in the east there might well be a civil war for the throne coupled with atrocities against the surviving non-pagans - as well as other non-Orthodox groups such as the Goths. [If he is it would probably be bitterly contested, which could have pretty much the same effect]. As such the east is thrown into violent disorder which could well incite both Persian and Hunnic invasions, as well as unrest from the various Arian German tribes and remaining pagans.

You would probably see at least parts of Mesopotamia and Syria overrun by the Persians and the Balkans by the Huns and Germans, with attention then moving to the surviving areas in Anatolia and Egypt. [The latter could also see rebellion as well].

Not only could this mean an effective end to the eastern empire but by drawing off the pressure for a while and preserving more of the western army the latter might be able to last significantly longer.

Steve
 
Don't build Constantinople. Constantinople was the rock upon which the Eastern Empire was built, and upon which all comers broke. Without Constantinople, I think that you would have Volkwundering going over the Straits, and with Anatolia potentially compromised, you could have the Eastern Empire fall.
 
You can try it differently - instead of speeding the fall of Eastern Roman Empire, make that Western Roman Empire survives. It is one of the ironies of history, y'know - after V C. barbarian invasion in OTL there weren't any external dangers of that scale to the region that WRE occupied afterwards... While ERE/Byzantium had to deal with Arabs, Bulgars, Slavs, Turcs, Piechengs...
 
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