[WMarshal]

I would love to watch Russia reclaim Byzantium/Constantinopal. Best Day Ever!

[Ciaphas Cain]

Lately I have been studying, not for the first time, the Byzantine Empire. One of the sadly most under-appreciated eras of history among American students.

This was one-half of the Roman Empire, and it only fell a little over five hundred years ago. That isn't so long in the scheme of things. And counting the modern state of Turkey, it was just two administrations previous.

The Roman Empire is not so ancient history after all.