Reply #19: It's debatable. The Byzantines would most certainly dispute your accounting of power succession. [View All]

[Selatius]

The stronger Eastern Roman Empire (later the Byzantine Empire) claims to draw direct lineage back to Rome itself, and they survived well into the 1400s. They had always disputed the Catholic Church attempting to lay claim to authority that they themselves have never claimed to give up. They merely assert the seat of power moved from Rome to Constantinople under Constantine.