How Byzantium Survived 1,100 Years of Enemies

The forgotten strategies that kept the Eastern Roman Empire alive while everyone else collapsed.

INTRO — THE EMPIRE THAT REFUSED TO DIE

Empires rise and fall.
Rome rose and fell.
Persia rose and fell.
The Caliphates rose and fell.
The Mongols rose and fell so fast they didn’t even have time to sit down.

But Byzantium?

Byzantium outlived them all.

The Eastern Roman Empire survived:

• barbarian invasions

• Arab conquests

• plague

• civil wars

• Bulgarian invasions

• Crusaders

• Seljuks

• economic collapse

• Mongol pressure

• Ottoman sieges

No other empire in history faced so many apocalyptic threats and lived.

How?

Not by size.
Not by brute force.
Not by luck.

Byzantium mastered survival as a strategy.

This is the deep dive into how they did it.