Miracle at Myriokephalon

Author says: a Facebook reader challenged us to imagine a modern day Byzantium. We've kind of cheated, by changing the question into - what if Byzantine Forces decided to quit Asia whilst they were still ahead of the curve? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).

on this day in the mountain passes of Phrygia, the Army of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos recovered from an ambush at the hands of the Seljuk Turks. This spectacular victory enabled the Byzantine Empire to recover the interior of Anatolia which it had lost after the Battle of Manzikert a century before.

For much of that time, a long peace with the Sultanate of Rûm had enabled the Empire to Please click the

icon to follow us on Facebook.concentrate on the Western theatre, defeating Hungary and imposing Byzantine control over all the Balkans.

Meanwhile the strongest Muslim ruler in Syria, Saladin was more concerned with Egypt and Palestine than the border territory.

The hard won victory at Myriokephalon created a strategic pause in which the Empire could consider its future natural borders more holistically.

And a new possibility soon began to take shape in the minds of the Byzantine Leadership: to abandon Anatolia altogether and perhaps shift the Empire Westwards, relocating Constantinople out of Asia and back into Europe.

Author says to view guest historian's comments on this post please visit the Today in Alternate History web site. Substantial content has been repurposes from Wikipedia which reports ~ the Battle of Myriokephalon, also known as the Myriocephalum, or Miryakefalon Savas? in Turkish, was a battle between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Turks in Phrygia on September 17, 1176. The battle was a serious reverse for the Byzantine forces, who were ambushed when moving through a mountain pass. It was to be the final, unsuccessful effort by the Byzantines to recover the interior of Anatolia from the Seljuk Turks.

Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items explore that possibility. Possibilities such as America becoming a Marxist superpower, aliens influencing human history in the 18th century and Teddy Roosevelt winning his 3rd term as president abound in this interesting fictional blog.