The Eastern Roman Empire - not so long ago

The Eastern Roman Empire is a fascinating empire, since one can basically
argue that the Roman/Ancient world essentially died with it - and only 553
years ago! A good place to start is with Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Roman_Empire

Westerners usually consider the Middle Ages to be the period that came AFTER
the Roman Empire. But that is only true in the West. The East in fact
lasted until 1453 - only 39 years before Columbus discovered America!
Indeed, it can be said that the Roman Empire was a major player through most
of the Middle Ages, albeit in the hands of the Hellenes, and that it lasted
almost to the Reformation (1517 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation).

Perhaps one could even say that modern Greece is the closest thing the
modern world has to the Roman Empire, that it can rightfully claim such a
thing if it wanted to, having finally thrown off the Turkish yoke. Of
course, even in the Eastern Roman Empire, the emperors were sometimes
non-Greek

It is hard to make stereotyping claims about the Greeks. Sometimes
Westerners deride the Greeks with old platitudes that inevitably turn out to
be false when applied to all the Greeks in history. But Greek history has
something for everyone, since its history stretches back over 2500 years!
Greece at one time was like the American West in slow motion. It was at the
vanguard of westward migrations. Not many lived west of Greece at the time,
certainly not many writing their thoughts down. Greeks had a
well-developed pagan religion, as well as a well-developed Christian
religion. Greece was eventually overwhelmed by the westward migrations in
which it partook.

Looking at Greece from a secular view point enables one to see Hellena
without bias, with a fascination for its rich history.


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Relevant Pages

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  • Re: OT: Youve got to like the second paragraph...
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