I am all for butterflies, but I have the slight feeling in my stomach that a surviving Byzantium would just be a different Ottman Empire.
They won't be SUPER-ROMANS or SUPER-HELLENISTS unless you put the POD way back.
I also agree with those who say that the Italian/Western European Renaissance does not entirely depends on the fall of Byzanz. A strong and trading empire could be just as useful in spreading ideas. And as one of my professors once said: if you look at the Middle Ages from a certain angle, then you see one Renaissance following the next.
So today we might see a roughly similar world, with Greece/Turkey replaced by a very traditionally Orthodox, economically mediocre monarchy or republic.
They won't be SUPER-ROMANS or SUPER-HELLENISTS unless you put the POD way back.
I also agree with those who say that the Italian/Western European Renaissance does not entirely depends on the fall of Byzanz. A strong and trading empire could be just as useful in spreading ideas. And as one of my professors once said: if you look at the Middle Ages from a certain angle, then you see one Renaissance following the next.
So today we might see a roughly similar world, with Greece/Turkey replaced by a very traditionally Orthodox, economically mediocre monarchy or republic.