There isan interesting book I have just finished called "Justinians Flea". It postulates that the great bubonic plagues which killed over 25 million people in Byzantium alone, so loosened Constantinoples grip on its territory that European states developed from the Franks, The Allemani, The Rus etc.
While it's undoubtedly an impressive feat of engineering and construction, how did the Pantheon's unsupported dome improve people's lives in any way similar to the way that the agricultural and industrial advancements in Europe did?
Thanks for the reference; I should read the book.
But the argument appears to be strained. The Rus have never even bordered the Empire, and did not even exist as such at the time of the "loss of grip." The Hun invasion that displaced the Visigoths was probably no less of a force than the plague. To attribute the loss of power to a single factor is probably erroneous.
P.S. Is there a single factor for the loss of Constantinople? Probably not. The Christendom, much like in our own time, simply lost its common identity that allowed the vacuum to be filled by the outside force.
“killed over 25 million people in Byzantium alone”
If by Byzantium you mean the entire empire, then I very much doubt this figure, it would mean literally everyone living under Byzantine rule died. The Bubonic Plague had an unusually high mortality rate in some spots (in the Middle Ages it killed off more than half of the population of Tuscany in Italy), but that number looks far too high.
Looks like an interesting book, nonetheless. I’ve got “Lost To The West” on my any minute now pile of stuff to read. :’)
http://www.justiniansflea.com/