Wow. I wish I could have a beer with you. That was just off the cuff writing! I suspect based on the depth of knowledge you are a published author.
My ametuer intrest is the eastern roman empire. Hope someday to contemplate the Golden Horn. But Turkey is just not stable enough. Hopefully that changes in the next ten years.
Thanks for the kind remarks! I'm not a published author.
There are a couple of things I should have looked up, but got lazy, and I'm so lazy now that I don't even want to look at it again to remember which things I should have looked up. ;^)
The Eastern Roman Empire -- I also prefer that correct name to "Byzantine" -- if you're into coins, Byzantine coins are generally high quality and (for their age and stuff) less scarce and reasonably priced. Or at least, they used to be. :^o
Meanwhile, try a search for "Badass of the week Basil the Bulgar Slayer", the language is salty, the events covered are a little gruesome, but it always makes me laugh. :^)