The appeal of the Byzantines

[cristislm]

What is it? What is it about the Byzantines that makes everybody on this forum like them so much? I'm not trying to be rude or start a flame war. I'm just curious as to why they are so well liked.

If you hate them please don't post here saying how much they suck. Thanks.

[Sharpe]

Yeah, i cannot understand, it for a people with such a rich history the creative assembly really gave them a bit of a clone army, maybe everyone here has mods to change that, like the Broken Crescent East Roman Empire, they like brilliant!

[cristislm]

That's not what I asked.

[Sharpe]

o right, i dunno why people like them, maybe they start off in a happening place, or maybe people like to relive the old roman empire

[Xamt]

well apart from game terms (awesome unit roster in kingdoms, great economy and good starting place - surrounded by "enemies" but u can still make and keep alliances) i think they represent a "romantic" kingdom for people...

some see them as the evolution of the old Roman empire, others as a dominating military and political force gone decadent with corruption and wealth but hey others might just like their purple uniforms !!

its always fun to try and remake history and the Byzantines are the most obvious choice of going about it...

then again.... im Greek, thats why i like em

edit: try looking at the "most liked faction" thread in this forum... i think the byzantines are the most favored one and the reasons people give on why they voted might be the answer to your question

[uruk-hai]

could be becurse of them being romans,witch they can use to rebuild the old roman empire.



stoping the down fall of the empire and rewriteing the histroy books.

they do have a nice unit list. they can train horse archers,heavy cavalry.some nice archers.heavy infany ,the varangain guard.


many enemys to fight. they keep on comeing and you have to keep on beating them.

can take over the holy lands and become the richest man in the world from all that sea trade.that and you get to fight the mongols and other, soon or later.

did i forget to say they are true romans? along with Constantinople was made the capital of rome many years ago.

for Roman honOR!


[and flame throwers in kingdoms]

[Xamt]

did i forget to say they are true romans? along with Constantinople was made the capital of rome many years ago.

although the Byzantine empire originated from the old Roman empire, Byzantines were by no means Romans and Constantinople never became the capital of the Roman empire

when the Roman empire was ruled by the tetrarchs, one of them, Constantine, moved the capital of his part of the empire to a small Greek colony called Byzantium and renamed the city to Constantinople (literaly meaning City of Constantine).

after the Gothic and Hunnic invasions that destroyed what was left of the western Roman empire, the eastern part became what is now known as the Byzantine Empire, adopting Christianity and different civics.

so no, the Byzantines werent Romans and Constantinople never was capital of the Roman empire

Byzantine Emperors felt free to use their heritage however to give legitimate claim to any expansion plans they had to the west (arguing they were trying to reclaim their lost lands and restore the glory of the Roman empire).

[HannibalExMachina]

wrong. they could not only claim a legal heritage to the roman state and its institutions, they were the roman state. even odoacer recognized that, by sending imperial regalia to constantinopel, stating that the west no longer would need an emperor, as it still had an emperor, though residing in the east (like constantine, who was roman emperor despite the fact his main residence wasnt rome in the end). the capital does not make the state, nor does the ethnicity of its citizens.

christianity was, btw, officialy the only legal religion since 392. and for the term "byzantine empire", thats an invention of 16th century humanists. and constatine wasnt just a tetrarch, he was the emperor who did away with the tetrarchy. and constantinople was meant to be capital, more decidated to christianity than the old rome (as it was common for late emperors to choose their capital. under honorius, all the western government moved to ravenna, btw).

bit off topic, but to discuss a matter you should know the facts.

[Xamt]

wrong. they could not only claim a legal heritage to the roman state and its institutions, they were the roman state. even odoacer recognized that, by sending imperial regalia to constantinopel, stating that the west no longer would need an emperor, as it still had an emperor, though residing in the east (like constantine, who was roman emperor despite the fact his main residence wasnt rome in the end). the capital does not make the state, nor does the ethnicity of its citizens.

christianity was, btw, officialy the only legal religion since 392. and for the term "byzantine empire", thats an invention of 16th century humanists. and constatine wasnt just a tetrarch, he was the emperor who did away with the tetrarchy. and constantinople was meant to be capital, more decidated to christianity than the old rome (as it was common for late emperors to choose their capital. under honorius, all the western government moved to ravenna, btw).

bit off topic, but to discuss a matter you should know the facts.

its a very thin line when the roman empire "ceased" to existed and when the byzantine empire "started" ... i'm sure that opinions defer even between scholars on this matter, but by the medieval ages it was widely accepted as a greek empire more than a roman empire


as for christianity being the only official religon that was true for the eastern part of the roman empire, but not the western

[Old Geezer]

I think that the Byzantines are so popular because of the yuky-purply color scheme that CA used. More likely it is because of the Varangian Guard and those scary horsie archers that they have. They have a position that is only rivaled by Sicily. But, the real reason is that they can attack everyone and anyone and still be "a good guy" even if they are wearing puky purple.

[cristislm]

. But, the real reason is that they can attack everyone and anyone and still be "a good guy" even if they are wearing puky purple.

I think the fashion police might have something to say about that.

[Erwin Rommel]

For one theres the Rome Total War and Barbarian Invasion then Medieval II Total War. The Roman EMpire is still there.

then of course the very unique and cool unit roster.

They are very unique, which makes it quite appealing, ever since MTW, the RE has always been unique, unlike back then were there are generic units with bland names.

[sparty]

Horse Archers + Purple Uniforms = Awesome

Actually they have a pretty unique starting area. Fighting European powers gets kind of old quickly. I haven't been playing that long and it is wearing on me when the battle isn't for something I desperately want.

With Byzantine you've got a selection of exciting enemies to engage with some novel units.

[NobleNick]

There are two reason I picked them, and 2 more reasons I discovered after I started playing:

1.) One of the few orthodox factions (I played a Catholic then an Islamic faction, and wanted an Orthodox.
2.) Central location
3.) (Discovered after start) Good early game units.
4.) (Discovered after start) Good challenge: every crusader in the world rides through your lands, plus many of your neighbors WANT your lands.

[alhoon]

I like the Byzantines because:

1. I'm Greek.
2. They hold Constantinople, Thessalonica and Nicea at the beginning of the game, so they have very nice economy.
3. They have good units, although not as good as the historical ones. Vardariotes rule for example and the Guard archers are the best non-English bowmen.
4. They're the rightful heirs of the Roman empire and I liked Roman factions in Rome Total War.
5. I'm Greek (Again)

[Nicholas H.C]

"then again.... im Greek, thats why i like em"

"I'm Greek"

*Sigh*

The truth will never be sought out.....

[The Noble Lord]

Hi,


There are so many reasons why people like the Byzantines. Me personally, I like them because:
1. They are the rightfull heir to the Roman Empire.
2. They lasted longer than the classical Roman Empire.
3. They were unique.
4. They were Orthodox.
5. They had so many enemies and survived for more than 1000 years.
6. They had beautiful arhitecture, art, and culture.
7. They were warriors and builders at the same time.
8. They defended Europe against the Persians and against Arabs twice.
9. While Europe was in dark ages, the Byzantines built St. Sophia.
10.Their armies were just unique in compare to the European medieval armies.

And there are so many other reasons as well.....................


CHEERS

[Wheelchair]

This is somewhat Irrelevant to the topic, But somewhere I read that the Varangian Guard were Hired by Basil the 2nd, and the Varangians we're norse.. o.O!

[The Noble Lord]

This is somewhat Irrelevant to the topic, But somewhere I read that the Varangian Guard were Hired by Basil the 2nd, and the Varangians we're norse.. o.O!

Yes, the Varangian guard was oficially founded by the Basil the Second Bulgaroctunos or Bulgar slayer. It was a deal that he made with leader of the Rus, Vladimir the Great. If Vladimir accepts Orthodox Christianity and Byzantine dominance then Basil's sister would marry him and he will be emperor's brother in law. The deal went through and Vladimir sent 6.000 Norsemen and Russians to Constantinople. They included famous Harald Hadrada. From these 6.000 men, Varangian guard was made and became the elite unit of the empire. In fact, during the Venetian attack in 1204 it was the Varangian guards that fought heroically on the ramparts and in the streets. The Byzantines even took them to Syria and Northern Iraq.
They were ferocious fighters.


CHEERS

[Carl von Döbeln]

I like the byzantines

They are just great