[Antoninus]

I apologize for my typo on the date of this splendid, erudite article.

While I agree with some of this author's premises, I found the article to be full of some rather sketchy scholarship. He only tells half the story, as far as I'm concerned, putting too much emphasis on certain things, and leaving out others that might disprove his point.

The main reason the Empire fell is because the Romans didn't follow the advice which the Emperor Septimius Severus gave to his sons on his deathbed: "Live in peace with one another, enrich the soldiers, and ignore everyone else." They allowed the Goths to basically take over the army from within, they lost their military rigor and discipline which is what built the empire in the first place, and they had a long succession of military mediocrities as emperor.

And contrary to this gent's thesis, the Roman Empire didn't fall in 476 AD. It continued on with its capital at Constantinople for another 1,000 years. Of course, this unfortunate fact is a bit too inconvenient to be included.

[dangus]

The Byzantine Empire was plainly the most enduring empire in history, a proud legacy. I'm not sure how you can call the Byzantine Empire the Roman Empire, however. Doesn't the name "the Roman Empire" imply that it should be in Rome? Or run by Romans?

I would more liken Byzantium to the re-establishment of the Hellenic Empire, which is an Empire much more proud even than Rome.

Language:
Rome: Latin
Hellenic: Greek
Byzantium: Greek

Seat:
Rome: Italy
Hellenic: Greece
Byzantium: Greece

Territory:
Rome: Mediterranean
Hellenic: Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East
Byzantium: Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East