Quote Originally Posted by Xiahou View Post
I guess it depends how far back we're turning back the clock. By the time the empire was down to Constantinople and a few pieces of Greece, nothing short of divine intervention could have saved it.

I think the Fourth Crusade is what dealt a mortal wound to the Byzantine Empire, it was never the same after that. If that had never happened, who knows?
I largely concur. From just about everything I've ever read, the 4th Crusade was simply too devastating a blow for the Empire to recover from. While earlier events like Manzikert obviously hurt the Byzantines badly as well -- to say nothing of their general internal/political weakness(es) which had been dogging them for centuries -- I think the Crusaders' sacking of the city was what really marked the beginning of the end.