Why did the Byzantine Empire fall?

The Right Man for the Job

If Maurice only had not been stingy and took into account the neeeds of the people and the army. Did not the patriarch warn him and he could have given the Slavs land to settle on and get cheap recruits for the army in return and turn barbarians into good romans and if he did the same with the Lombards in Italy then maybe Phocas would not have revolted and then I would have been butterflied away LOL:)
 
There are several reasons, all of which were engrained into the late Roman psyche, and some of which can be rectified long enough for the Empire to have bounced back in limited capacity. As I see it, these are the problems:
  • Unrealistic expectations
  • Confused national identity
  • Weak institutios outside of the Church and army
  • Little regard for sea power
  • long history of revolution and civil war/frequenr dynastic change
 
The combination of powerful enemies and civil wars.

Especially seen with the devastating civil war and persian war that happens after Maurice death and the more devastating Arab conquests.

Then there are the Manzikert civil wars.

The period of 1183-1204 was also a period of instability and civil wars with a very catastrophic result for the empire.
 
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