At least they’re not as uppity as those Damn Ascus folks.
Nope. Holding the liner notes to the Dial-a-Song Best of CD in my hands right now and they read “Eighty dolls yelling ‘Small girl after all.’” Perhaps a pun on the eponymous Ana Ng?
On preview, that’s one opinion yBeayf, but I prefer to think of the fall of the Roman Empire as the sacking of Rome in four hundred (mumble-mumble) CE. Sure, the Byzantines called themselves Caesar or basileus* as it were, but come on. The Roman empire was dead.
*I’m so giddy that I can do Greek now. Not that I’m very good at it.
Eh. They called themselves Romans, other peoples called them Romans, and they were direct cultural and societal descendants of the Romans-in-Rome. That’s good enough for me.
[QUOTE=Wolfian]
On preview, that’s one opinion yBeayf, but I prefer to think of the fall of the Roman Empire as the sacking of Rome in four hundred (mumble-mumble) CE. Sure, the Byzantines called themselves Caesar or basileus* as it were, but come on. The Roman empire was dead.QUOTE]
Off topic, but I always love digressions…
Myself, while I’m more inclined towards yBeaf’s opinion on this matter, I do tend to differentiate the Byzantine Empire from the Roman Empire. The Greek east superceding the Latin west, the narrowing of the later state to the area centered on Asia Minor, the growing religious schism, the loss of political universality after the Carolingians claimed the imperial title in the west, etc…
My own differentiating point ( following others ) for the start of the Byzantine era is the reign of Heraclius beginning in 610, both because of the clear change in dynasty and because the Arab eruption thaat so altered the political landscape broke out on his watch. While some authorities referred to Justinian I as ‘the Last Roman’, I’d actually give that title to the emperor Maurice, with the interregnum of the usurper Phocas ( r. 602-610 ) being a transitional limbo.
Of course it is quite true that from the Byzantine standpoint ( and most of Europe ), it was the the legitimate successor to the Roman state. But with the creation and rise of the essentially unrelated Holy Roman Emperors in the west. that singularity was muddied. I think it just makes for easier shorthand to seperate them, despite ( and acknowledging ) the continuous tradition.
- Tamerlane
Right on, Tap !