[Poll] Byzantine Empire's greatest enemy

We've already done the Roman Republic and Roman empire, Now its time for Part 4 (Counting the Roman kingdom)

Nothing did more to destabilize Byzantium than the 4th Crusade, at it probably crippled the Empire enough put it on an inevitable path to oblivion.

Before 632 AD? Sassanids. After? Muslims.

Crazy Boris wrote:Nothing did more to destabilize Byzantium than the 4th Crusade, at it probably crippled the Empire enough put it on an inevitable path to oblivion.  

As bad as 1204 was for Byzantium. I think it was ultimately one of the most important factors in creating the modern world. Because the Byzantine Empire was destroyed and replaced by the Ottoman Empire, Europeans were forced to find different trade routes to the East. So, they sailed west, thus discovering the world, starting the age of exploration and consequently beginning the modern era.

The values of the Roman Empire fall apart because of the Turks. It was the first time that the ideas of "turkism" really threatened Europe... But, sorry to say it was because of the 4th crusade.
If the 4th crusade did not actually happened today we would have lived in an almost idillic society (maybe?) conducted by the ideas of demos krates ! The "people's mandate" should be taken serious even today when the Jew-Christian society is once again threatened by a wave of muslim (totalitarianism?)... If we let the real values fall again, the society would collapse, but i can't predict if a Renaissance 2.0 would revitalize it...
Just hope for the best guys! Help the refugees if you can and instruct them that they are also human beings ready to take destiny into their own hands! The problem is people at the peak of the pyramid (in the Muslim world?) that continue doing wrong stuff like supporting extremist movements. Just be humanist !

I want the option Justinian I because he made The Empire way too large.

Justinian I's idea was to create an united Roman realm. He was a powerful man that oppressed any opposition (revolts of Nika?) and conquered new places such as Vandalia in Africa or Italia from the Ostrogoth (?) kingdom. Many historians think his additions to the empire actually prolonged its life by centuries to come...

Gotta go with the Ottomans since they put the final nail in the Byzantine Empire's coffin. Unlike the fall of the Western Empire, witch was basically a bloody coup by Odoacer, the Ottomans were in constant warfare with the Byzantines for multiple centuries before they finally conquered them in the siege of 1453.

Sassanid Empire, as they had more wars together than with the others. Sure they weren't their downfall but were definitely their ultimate rival.

I would say the rashidun caliphate because they took Egypt Syria and the Levant along with parts of North Africa they also destroyed Byzantine army's and set the Empire on the path to destruction.

Where is the Seljuks?

HitPoint0213 wrote:Where is the Seljuks?

I want to put them in but i am afraid that will reset the poll.