The defeat at Manzikert broke the spine of Byzantine military power. Anatolia, the empire’s great reservoir of soldiers, the rugged peasants who had once filled its ranks with unshakable resolve, was lost. From that moment on, the Seljuk Turks ruled Anatolia. The empire’s heartland, the source of its warriors, its grain, and its lifeblood, was now under the crescent banner. The empire shrank, a shadow of its former self. Byzantium clung to the lands immediately surrounding Constantinople, an isolated citadel standing alone against a world that had moved on. Never again would the Byzantine Empire command the fear and respect of its enemies. Its armies, once the envy of the world, became mercenary-driven and hollow. The Byzantines would linger on, but as a diminished power, unable to recapture the military glory that had once defined them.

Manzikert. 1071 A.D.
Byzantine Forces: ~ 40,000 Men.
Turkish Forces: ~ 40,000 Men.

Additional Reading and Episode Research:

• Friendly, Alfred. The Dreadful Day: The Battle of Manzikert, 1071.
• Fuller, J.F.C. A Military History of the Western World.
• Jenkins, Romilly. Byzantium: The Imperial Centuries, A.D. 610-1071.

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