The Byzantine Empire; a state which can said to have been in continuous existence from 324 A.D. to 1453 A.D. During this time, its fortunes have waxed and waned; it has celebrated great triumphs and suffered the basest defeats, defeated the strongest powers of the time and been overrun mere years later.
To the historian, a subject of intense interest then, a history of which could only be brought together in the most illustrious of ways, through strenuous research and meticulous compilation.