The Mediaeval Roman Empire, an unlikely emergence and survival, by Sean Gabb

Sean Gabb is rehabilitating the reputation of the much disparaged Eastern Roman Empire in ways pertinent to the history of freeorder. At the Property and Freedom Society, Bodrum, Turkey, September 2018 Sean gave a talk on the improbable revitalisation of the eastern portion of the Roman Empire. He argues that this transformation is so remarkable that Byzantium should be renamed The Mediaeval Roman Empire.

link to Sean Gabb's talk

Taken from the final paragraphs:

The Mediaeval Roman Empire survived because of a revolutionary transformation in which ordinary people became armed stakeholders. The inhabitants of Roman Gaul and Italy and Spain barely looked up from their ploughs as the Barbarians swirled round them. The citizens of Mediaeval Rome fought like tigers in defence of their country and their Orthodox faith. ... Climate is often destiny. Demography is often destiny. Rarely, though not impossibly, destiny lies in the courage and determination to see the world as it is, and to make the necessary adaptations. It saved one civilisation. Why not another?

http://explorersfoundation.org/glyphery/609.html
May 23, 2019