Rome already was not the capitol of the empire before Constantine. The capitol had been moved to Milan and was eventually to Ravenna in the fifth century. I believe the *Roman* empire fell in the 3rd century just as did the Parthian Empire at the same time. In their place, came the Byzantine and Persian Empire rose.
In both cases the political entities did not change, what happened was what region now supplied the ruling order of the empire. The Byzantine empire was founded by men like Aurelian, Diocletian, and Constantine came from the Balkans which was a border region of the Empire, as opposed to Italy, which was not.
The peoples near the border had a more group-cohesive culture because of the external threat posed by the barbarians, according to Peter Turchin, from whom I got this interpretation. Theory aside, the Eastern Roman Empire was not Roman in any meaningful sense, they discarded Latin, the language of the Romans, in favor of Greek for elite discourse. Most of their territory at their height was outside of Europe. Their version of Christianity was expressed in Greek, while that of the West was conducted in Latin.
I certainly understand the language and culture differences between west and east, but I still see Constantinople as fundamentally Roman in its DNA. Constantine also ruled over both the west and east. I think the locus of power shifted eastward, and the language and cultural traditions shifting didn't make them any less Roman in the sense that they evolved from within the Roman empire from that point forward, preferring the (viewed as superior) Greek culture.
It's really just a take, though, and "Roman" is a very loaded word with a lot of different possible interpretations. I bet we could write a book about all this.
My only non-fiction is my Substack. Otherwise, I'm trying to focus on getting this ginormous novel done. My next to last post was about early Byzantine music and I will weave more research-based articles into the mix along the way. There's so much fascinating stuff, I could easily get distracted. LOL. Trying to use some self control. So many temptations.
Rome already was not the capitol of the empire before Constantine. The capitol had been moved to Milan and was eventually to Ravenna in the fifth century. I believe the *Roman* empire fell in the 3rd century just as did the Parthian Empire at the same time. In their place, came the Byzantine and Persian Empire rose.
In both cases the political entities did not change, what happened was what region now supplied the ruling order of the empire. The Byzantine empire was founded by men like Aurelian, Diocletian, and Constantine came from the Balkans which was a border region of the Empire, as opposed to Italy, which was not.
The peoples near the border had a more group-cohesive culture because of the external threat posed by the barbarians, according to Peter Turchin, from whom I got this interpretation. Theory aside, the Eastern Roman Empire was not Roman in any meaningful sense, they discarded Latin, the language of the Romans, in favor of Greek for elite discourse. Most of their territory at their height was outside of Europe. Their version of Christianity was expressed in Greek, while that of the West was conducted in Latin.
I certainly understand the language and culture differences between west and east, but I still see Constantinople as fundamentally Roman in its DNA. Constantine also ruled over both the west and east. I think the locus of power shifted eastward, and the language and cultural traditions shifting didn't make them any less Roman in the sense that they evolved from within the Roman empire from that point forward, preferring the (viewed as superior) Greek culture.
It's really just a take, though, and "Roman" is a very loaded word with a lot of different possible interpretations. I bet we could write a book about all this.
Just goes to show, some things will remain constant....ine.
DaDiel Nest, ladies and gentlemen!
I'll be here all day, or until security kicks me out, which is about now.
Rome died from within. Constantine was just a failed extension of export rescue to secure the wealth of core Roman elites. It was only time.
It seems like the Empire was so accustomed to conquest in order to pay its bills, it simply couldn't survive if it stopped expanding.
Of course, there aren't very many empires in world history that have lasted as long.
My only non-fiction is my Substack. Otherwise, I'm trying to focus on getting this ginormous novel done. My next to last post was about early Byzantine music and I will weave more research-based articles into the mix along the way. There's so much fascinating stuff, I could easily get distracted. LOL. Trying to use some self control. So many temptations.
Ha! "Less is more", but figuring out what not to do is quite an art.
Yes! Yes! Go East, Young Man! - My WIP is set in the 7th Century East Roman Empire and Persia. So much history left out of our storybooks. :(
Neat! Have you written any nonfiction? I really enjoy telling those stories to people.
Once the Muslims conquered Constantinople, it was renamed to what it is known by today- Istanbul.
Which means "the city." That's more interesting now to me because "Constantine's city" wasn't terribly far from this.
Correction: Constantinople