What would byzantium have to do to survive?

It would be combination of Hong Kong and Vatican (economic&religious center)

If one accepts that the so called Eastern Empire eventually adopted Greek, then its end was written, and it was written in Greek!
That is one of the reasons that I think that popular or consensual history has it wrong! That is mankind has always chased the "setting sun/son!"

And, as it turned out, it was the West, to which every ancient power eventually bowed to!
Regards,

yeah i know it more than one battle (I had a bit of tongue in that cheek) and yes for sure they would be back. The way they fought was pretty amazing so its not like they would shrug their shoulders and go back and never been heard of since

  The stars lined up for the Arabs with stuff that they were not in control of. You have a decline of the E Romans at that point in time, which has as much do to about internal factors, wars with the Iranians , disease etc etc.

My statement was more along the general line of holding on to the orthodox lands in  our east and not losing like in Yarmuk , basically not being weak when the Arabs were on the war path.  If the E Romans (hec the Romans) and Iranians didnt slam each other for so long it would of been different. Nothing is so certain and a peace treaty of sorts on more even terms would  have been a nicer 'what if'.

So maybe then for my own answer it would be a peace treaty with the Sassanids and keep the levant and anadolia.

Originally posted by Al Jassas Accept Arab domination over Syria, Egypt and Armenia and do like the Nubians, a long peace treaty and turn to deal with the Bulgar and other slavs.

I agree with that speculation. They had a strong military and economy in the Macedonian period, which should have been used to strengthen the thematic system. Especially in Antolia and the Western Balkans where the Opiskan army could not reach fast enough. If they had strengthened their base and kept their army at maximum they could have retained most of their possesions.

Originally posted by Count Belisarius What would the Byzantine Empire have to do to survive?

cure the plague

If they force their religion to catholic perhaps a small chance to survive.

Thus far, all empires have failed to view a big picture for humanity, and thus they have either been binned by history, or are tottering on weak residual foundations today. In the final count, all who reign by exclusive names will disappear, and only an equitable platform of laws will rule humanity.

Edited by IamJoseph - 03-Oct-2008 at 18:05

Depending on how far back you are willing to go there are lots of suggestions that could be made. Let's just say we start with Justinian's reign, a time when Byzantium was on sure footing in the eastern Mediterranean, and construct an ideal course of history.

1. Justinian reinstates the Republic by giving back to the Senate its pre-imperial powers. This way Byzantium would avoid having too many its higher offices (the one of emperor in particular) occupied by mediocrities or even fools whose only merit were family connections and nepotism. Like ancient Rome it would still be somewhat of an oligarchy and in no way a complete meritocracy, but more so than the empire.

2. Byzantium does not attempt to reconquer Italy or Iberia. While romantic, Justinian's ambition of reconquering the old heartlands led to a costly and completely unnecessary war with the Goths, whose outcome was the complete occupation of the Italian peninsula by the Lombards. The campaign in Spain was even more futile. The reconquest of Carthage however was necessary, as the Vandals' piracy was a plague in the Mediterranean. Apart from that, Justinian should have focused on consolidating his empire along the Balkan and Middle Eastern border, where the sums that were spent in Italy could have been spent on creating a network of defensive works and pay professional soldiers to man them, in order to prevent future invasions and avoid the crisis in the 7th century.

3. Limiting the spread of Islam and the extent of the Arab conquests. Byzantium would already have been well-positioned to deal with the Arab invasions in the 7th century had it followed the previous advice, as not only would they have avoided the exhaustive Persian war but they would also have a set of defensive works to stop them and capable armies in the area. In addition Byzantium should have introduced religious freedom (no longer an impossibility as the emperor is no longer the chosen rules of the Christian god), meaning the Monophysites and other Christian "heretics" in Egypt and the Levant would not have been alienated and tempted by the freedom of worship enjoyed under the Caliph. If possible taxes should also have been lowered, to reduce the lure of lower taxation under Arab rule - this could have been possible if Byzantium had avoided the Persian war. Lastly, if it came to battle Byzantium should not have used Arab troops to fight the Arabs, or fight while braving a sandstorm, like at Yarmuk.

Now we see that Byzantium has already stifled the growth of those problems they faced later on in real history. The civil war between Phocas and Sclerus would not have happened as power rested with the Senate and not influential individuals, meaning they could have presented a united front agains the Bulgars as well as any other group that threated from the north. The Turkish threat in Anatolia would never have materialised as the Caliphate that imported them to the eastern Mediterranean would not have existed in the first place. In extension of that the crusades would never have occurred either, as Jerusalem would still be in Christian hands and there would not have been any need to call for support from the Catholics - meaning no crusader states and no 1204.

I believe we have saved Byzantium here.