You're the Byzantines, man. That means that pretty much everyone is gunning for you no matter what.
Seriously, though, it makes a certain amount of sense when you think about it. You're the defender of Christiandom in the East, so all the Muslims are gunning for you. The Catholics in the west and the Russians in the north both envy your wealth, resent your strength, and want the glory of defending Christiandom (from both the Saracens and the barbarian hordes of the Asian steppes) for themselves. And
everyone wants Constantinople--both for its immense riches, and for the status conveyed upon the master of such a magnificient city. In short, everyone wants a piece of you!
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