In the fifth century AD, the mighty (western) Roman Empire "fell" to
invading barbarians and complex internal pressures. The land that had been
centrally governed for centuries disintegrated into numerous warring states.
The safety and privileges enjoyed by some residents of the empire vanished
to be replaced by a constant state of danger and uncertainty; others merely
traded one set of daily terrors for another. Europe was plunged into what
Renaissance scholars would label a "dark age."
Yet Byzantium (more correctly termed the Eastern Roman Empire) remained.
