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• Alternate History Byzantine Empire Pictures
• What If The Byzantine Empire Reunited
• Alternate History Byzantine Empire History

If you want a challenging scenario, but one that is by no means impossible (if you ask me), then you should start with a post-1204 timeline. While many will tell you the Byzantine Empire was finished after the 4th crusade, I would strongly beg to differ. The problem is not that Constantine didn’t want Urban’s cannon he did the problem is that he simply couldn’t afford it. Even more to the heart of the matter though as others have posted is at this point Byzantium is for all intense purposes already dead someone simply hasn’t come along and buried it yet. Consequently if the Byzantines do manage to hold off the Turks in 1453 they’ll be back since Constantinople sits on too important of a site both economically and strategically to simply ignore and will eventually they will likely succeed.Furthermore if by some quirk of fate the Ottoman state happens to fall apart and splinters into a hundred little petty entities someone else will take the city at some point. The empire had neither the money nor the manpower any longer to fend off its other neighbors indefinitely all who would be looking to take such a valuable prize if the Turks happen to falter. Click to expand.The Turks weren't in the Levant in the seventh century; it was the explosion of the (Arab) Caliphate that took the Levant and Egypt.Even after that, the Romans certainly weren't on the verge of collapse.

They remained a powerful entity in the region long after and despite the rise of Islam. The Empire (at least in its Byzantine form) was at its most powerful under Basil II, even though he controlled less land than any of the emperors (rebels and Augustus/Caesar splits aside) prior to the Islamic conquests. And the Empire was defeated by Seljuk Turks at Manzikert, not Arabs. If you stop the defeat at Manzikert, and get rid of the internal issues that brought it about (Basil II has a son, Isaac I stays healthy and keeps the throne, Romanus IV doesn't become emperor.) by making the state's structure more stable, with mildly competent Emperors, the empire shouldn't have too much trouble. IMO after 1204 the Byzantine Empire was dead, it was just the Mongol invasion which caused it to survive as long as it did. With Muslim Turks populating Anatolia the best Greek source of manpower is gone, and filled with hostiles.Your best bet is to have the Turks lose at Manzikert (or better yet, lose at Ghazni in 1037, which happens in my timeline). That means no Turks in Anatolia, and the only threat really is the decaying Arab caliphate, which by the 1040s was looking pretty weak.

With a very competent emperor (think Basil II on steroids), the Byzantines could take a great deal of land from the Arabs, and their future looks much more secure than post-Seljuk. The reason I think the empire was doomed after 1204 is largely geographic. The Western part of Anatolia is totally defenseless against a power on the plateau.

Alternate History Byzantine Empire Pictures

What If The Byzantine Empire Reunited

If you want a challenging scenario, but one that is by no means impossible (if you ask me), then you should start with a post-1204 timeline. While many will tell you the Byzantine Empire was finished after the 4th crusade, I would strongly beg to differ. The problem is not that Constantine didn’t want Urban’s cannon he did the problem is that he simply couldn’t afford it. Even more to the heart of the matter though as others have posted is at this point Byzantium is for all intense purposes already dead someone simply hasn’t come along and buried it yet. Consequently if the Byzantines do manage to hold off the Turks in 1453 they’ll be back since Constantinople sits on too important of a site both economically and strategically to simply ignore and will eventually they will likely succeed.Furthermore if by some quirk of fate the Ottoman state happens to fall apart and splinters into a hundred little petty entities someone else will take the city at some point. The empire had neither the money nor the manpower any longer to fend off its other neighbors indefinitely all who would be looking to take such a valuable prize if the Turks happen to falter. Click to expand.Exactly my point.What did Basil plan to invade in the east?The problem with a victory at Manzikert, it doesn't mean the Turks will never attack again.

As AHP has pointed out in other threads, they are basically horse nomads, who are extremely hard to decisively defeat. So even after Manzikert they would just come back, sooner or later, with a new army.Your best bet is that the Turks never invade at all, which could be accomplished at many different places. That would mean only hostile Arabs, not Turks, and the Seljuks wouldn't re-invigorate Islam ITTL. On the other hand, the Seljuks were not interested in Anatolia, and tried to make peace with the Byzantines before Manzikert. A victory wouldn't have stopped raids, but it would have given the empire a couple of years of breathing space to get the army in order, and after that, I think they could probably have held their own.While horse nomads are difficult to defeat decisively, it is possible to establish an effective defense against them especially in mountainous terrain, and the Byzantines were probably more capable of this than anyone else. Exactly my point.What did Basil plan to invade in the east?The problem with a victory at Manzikert, it doesn't mean the Turks will never attack again.

Alternate History Byzantine Empire History

As AHP has pointed out in other threads, they are basically horse nomads, who are extremely hard to decisively defeat. So even after Manzikert they would just come back, sooner or later, with a new army.Your best bet is that the Turks never invade at all, which could be accomplished at many different places. That would mean only hostile Arabs, not Turks, and the Seljuks wouldn't re-invigorate Islam ITTL.