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Once the secret of the location is known, finding the air supply and cutting it off makes these places indefensible. The Turks were just way better fighters, period. They mopped the floor with everyone they met until the sea Battle of Lepanto (1571) and the siege (1529) and land Battle of Vienna (1683).

Not true. The emperor who lost at Manzikert to the Seljuk Turks had defeated them in combat twice before. The difference is in cost of soldiers. It cost a fortune for the empire and a loss was not easily recoverable especially for a diminished population of people living in cities ravaged by the plague.

13 posted on 06/26/2016 7:33:36 PM PDT by Trumpinator ("Are you Batman?" the boy asked. "I am Batman," Trump said. youtube.com/watch?v=HZA9k7WAuiY)

At Manzikert the Turks made an impact, so much so that the 10s of 1000s of mercenaries in the Emperor’s employ deserted the field when they saw (or feared) the destruction of the Varangians at the core of the Byzantine army.

20 posted on 06/27/2016 7:35:49 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (I'll tell you what's wrong with society -- no one drinks from the skulls of their enemies anymore.)