-- CONTRITA NON SED VICTA --
The Eastern Roman Empire was created in conjuction with the Western Roman Emperor after DIocletian split the Roman Empire into two halves. The West would go on to fall, and the East would adopt Hellenization over time, but still keeping the title of Roman Emperor. In fact, after the fall of the West, Emperor Zeno put into effect the Constantinople Declaration, stating that only the Emperor of the East had the authority to declare a new Western Emperor. The Papacy despised this, and when he was subjagated by Justinian the Great, he hated it even more. So only a few decades after the death of Justinian, the Pope declared himself Emperor and took over Italy. Neither would be able to conquer each other, and both agreed to the Peace of Dyrrhachion, where Maurice was recognized as controlling Greece, and the Pope was recognized as controlling Italy. Despite this, they still claimed all of eachother's territory, a relation that would cause several rebellions and wars. During the Papal-Byzantine War, Egypt seceded as the Neo-Ptolemaic Kingdom, causing Africa to declare independence as well. After this, East Rome was mutilated but it got worse during the Arab Wars, where they were pushed out of the rich province of Syria. They continued to fight against the Arabs, Bulgars, and Cumans but their greatest threat was the Seljuk Empire, who had conquered Khazaria and was heading south on both fronts. Byzantium was aided by the Kingdom of Britannia with Soldiers and Boats, and in the Battle of Manzikert the Joint Greek-British Army destroyed the Seljuks. The aid of Britannia would not go unreturned, as Romanos IV crowned Britannic King Arthur III the Western Emperor. The Action caused the reformation of many rump states, with Pannonia declaring a Republic, Africa declaring its own Empire, and Soissons declaring a Kingdom. The Next Years would be tough but survivable. The toughest was the Albanian War, where the Papacy invaded shortly after the Third Slavic Migration, establishing a puppet King of Albania. At the same time, the Cumans invaded Thrace, and migratory Turks established the Sultanate of Rum. These would be defeated eventually, but its troubles would not completely end. The rise of Colonialism would lead to Byzantium becoming a second-rate Great Power. Byzantium from then on would mostly stay out of huge wars, only joining when others offered them land. Over the Early Modern Era, Byzantium would focus on Hellenizing the Turks and Slavs, making them all but ethnically Greek. This would be the norm until the Great Frankish Wars, where Hohenzollern, the Master of Europe, would invade, but with the help of the Volgan Rus would beat him all the way to Frankfurt. After this though, Emperor Theodosius V would be forced to give up power in favor of a Constitutional Empire. In World War I, Byzantium would stay neutral and stop any Warships from entering the Bosporus, much to the displeasement of Volga. In The Second World War, however, Byzantium was invaded by the Entente, and fought fierce battles in Thrace and Macedonia. Sadly, they were pushed to the Ancient Walls of Constantinople, but the Battle of Constantinople was won, a huge victory remembered alongside those of DL-Day and the Battle of Grozny. Afterwards, The Empire embraced Secularism and joined the UE in 1965. During the Frozen Wars, they remained an ally of the Triple Federation and remain one to this day.