Byzantium's historical provinces in 1453 - YouTube
This will be the second part of our three-video series on the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the wider Roman world surrounding its final years. In this video, we move beyond the siege itself to examine what remained of the Eastern Roman Empire before the final collapse. By 1453, the Eastern Roman Empire is often portrayed as a dying state reduced to Constantinople alone an isolated island in an Ottoman sea. But was that really the full picture? In this video, we explore the territories, cities, islands, monasteries, and influence that Rome still possessed in its final years. From the Morea, with Mystras, Monemvasia, Patras, and Corinth, to the remaining Roman towns of Thrace, such as Selymbria, Mesembria, Sozopolis, and Vize, the empire was not as territorially insignificant as it is often imagined. We also look at the islands of Lemnos, Imbros, and the Sporades, the role of Mount Athos, Meteora, and other monasteries, and the wider Greek populations that still responded to imperial prestige and legitimacy. These surviving lands and communities could still offer resources, fortifications, cultural strength, diplomatic value, and even manpower. Yet internal divisions, weak naval power, Ottoman pressure, and political fragmentation made any real recovery extremely difficult. Along the way, this video also echoes themes from two of our earlier videos: our episode on the ancient Greek world and the power of smaller states, and our video on the Gallipoli Crusade, which directly relates to the restoration of Roman influence in Thrace and the Black Sea coast. Was the Roman Empire truly finished by 1453 or, with better luck and unity, could the Roman phoenix have risen once more?