Ah, the Byzantine Empire! Who has not dreamed of a world in which the Hagia Sofia is still the centre of the Orthdox Church, the Avtokrator rules from Ispania to Mesopotamia and Greek Fire is a secret weapon rather than a kebab restaurant in Luton? Where the Mediterranean is Mare Nostrum once more, and the year is counted from the creation of the world?
This famous Roman successor state is beloved on the forum by, among others, Midgard, Abdul Hadi Pasha (though he prefers the Ottomans), Sargon, Jason and euio. The Byzantines are associated with airships and the Evil Party. For all the gratuitous adoration, the unwary traveller/newcomer reading AH.com accounts of Byzantium might be left with the mistaken belief that the Byzantines actually had airships, space marines and heavy metal…
Needless to say, Byzantine scenarios are very popular in AH, partly because of Harry Turtledove's Byzantine-scholar background, and partly… just 'cause. Its greatest defender is without doubt Midgard, at least until he left. Presently, Basileus Giorgios, Sargon and Konstantin Paleolog number among the most prominent and respected Byzantinologists on the forums.