How do you define an empire?Muh 'Byzantines are Romans' fags can never answer this simple question.
>>17197062>Byzantines are RomansTrue
>>17197065>muh scholars muh scholars>No definition of empire provided
>>17197066Empire = The Roman state
>>17197126and the Byzantine empire did not include the city of Rometherefor it cannot be considered a Roman state
>>17197131That doesn't make any sense. That simply would mean that it doesn't include the city of Rome, not that it is somehow no longer the same state as the Empire in the past. It still shares the same continuity. Even that definition at the time worked for everyone involved in the middle ages and antiquity. Justin was still thought of as the Roman Emperor, who ruled the Roman state even though he never controlled Rome, the same thing goes with the HRE which worked with the same logic.
>>17197138Still heavily lacking a clear definition of an empire here. All I see is cope.
>>17197141The definition of Empire in antiquity and the middle ages was to be the Roman state.
>>17197146I hope someone let the Mayans, Chinese, Malians, Mongols, and Parthians know.
>>17197062>How do you define an empire?It's a definition based on social acceptanceIf we all agree it's an empire, it's an empire.
>>17197152>it's how it socially identifies!>m-m-muh consensus!brainlet response. imagine being too scared to have an opinion on the matter, lol.
>>17197154> to have an opinion on the matter, lolBut I do, when I say "we all agree" I mean everyone should agree with my definition
The Byzantine Empire is not Roman. It‘s a Christian Empire, which quickly lost all of the territory, which wasn’t following their particular interpretation of Christianity. There is nothing Roman about this Oriental Despotism. As ever Western Gentlemen, actual Aristocrats, were right about their assessment of the Byzantine Empire, Only plebs and their paradox video game addiction and heir pleb youtube commentators regard the Byzantine Empire highly, because they think they discovered this super secret awesome Roman Empire in the middle ages, which their teachers never told them anything about. The Byzantines were a far-cry from the height of the Roman Republic or Empire. They are a degenerate offshoot of lesser people.
>>17197198>There is nothing Roman about this Oriental DespotismThey ruled in the same way as the Empire did during Diocletians reign though
>>17197204
>>17197154>>m-m-muh consensus!this is literally how definitions work you fucking retard
>>17197228Definitions need an actual definition to work, and I still haven't seen one beyond:>yall think u roman empire then u roman empire boiliteral wewuzzing behaviour
>>17197226Themes are descended from the Later Roman province and only came into existence in the 8th century as an administrative division, and they were far smaller and less powerful than the Late Roman province, so if anything they were less despotic.
>>17197198>As ever Western Gentlemen, actual Aristocratsbut Hieronymus Wolf wasn't an aristocrat.
>>17197149Mayans notoriously never had an empire, you pseud. You don't know shit what you talking about, huh?
>>17197326Difficult to know when the term still hasn't been defined in the thread.When someone provides a definition, we can then debate whether a Mayan empire existed or not.
Seems the only contender for 'what an empire means' on /his/ is:>Empire = The Roman stateByzantine deniers never were the smartest were they. think it goes hand in hand with the christcuckery larp.
>>17197149>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_kingdoms_of_Daniel>https://medapocalypse.wordpress.com/short-essays/empire/four-empires/In the medieval European context it's true. People thought the Bible had predicted the Roman empire would be the last Empire before the rise of the Antichrist. so for something to be an empire it HAD to be the Roman empireOf course though it's a stupid thing to say in any other context, and the simple fact the Byzantines claimed to be the direct continuation of the Roman empire doesn't make it any truer than when the Holy Roman empire (also a modern term, in the middle ages it just called itself the Roman empire) claimed to be the same thing
>>17197065Kaldellis thinks calling Byzantines Byzantines is racist because it serves to delegitimise slightly brown people's claim to being the true successors of RomeNevermind the person who coined the term was a slightly brown person living in the Byzantine Empire in the Byzantine era
>>17197062Byzantine do exist. Crusader veterans were there.
Lots of very Jewish comments in this thread, alluding to shit like>biblical predictions>lived experiences>self identity>scholarly consensusWhat happened to clearly defining terms? Why all the muddying of waters?
>>17197713Why don't you define what an Empire is then if you're so smart
>>17197717When a group of people in a city use a technological/cultural/political/military advantage to exert influence beyond their current geographical area.
>>17197721What does "current geographical area" mean?
>>17197733Drainage basins 80% of the time. Exceptions include rocky coastlines, islands, peninsulas, etc.
>>17197062european history post-classical is just a bunch of barbarians fighting against each other to claim descendant of rome
>>17197754That seems kinda arbitary. Austria was not an empire because it was mostly along the Danube, but Canada is an empire? What about Vietnam - it has a long coastlines that covers a few drainage basins but it isn't particuarly rocky?Influence is another vague term you use, it could mean just giving suggestions or having an economic stake in something. Is the EU an empire? Is the UN? Sure they might not have Technological, or Military advantage, but they do have a political one, and potentially a cultural one. (Advantage is also a vague term and could mean anything)Why do people have to be in a city? Can that city change or does it have to remain one city? Was the Mongol empire or any other nomandic state not an empire? Overall I think it's a poor definition.
>>17197721>>17197717>>17197795only true realm is Galactic Empire