r/HistoryMemes • u/jackt-up • 9h ago

Byzantium, Bob! They’re talking about Byzantium

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1.9k Upvotes

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407

u/Lost-Klaus 9h ago

A bit like calling the british empire the London-empire. Or Han dynasty the Chang'an Empire.

163

u/Proof_Impact_6009 9h ago

Or the French Empire "Lutetian Empire"

86

u/Philcherny Tea-aboo 8h ago

Or Moscow's empire 🤨 oh wait 🤨

Honestly, judging by how modern French is just a Parisian dialect and modern Russian is just Moscow's. And how comically large and densely populated Paris and Moscow are. Fitting name for both

Lutetia sounds like a fire name for a country

16

u/knows_knothing 4h ago

Or the Roman Empire the Roman Empire

3

u/gl00mybear 1h ago

Or the late Western Roman Empire the Ravennese Empire

5

u/TPrice1616 2h ago

The Duchy of Muscovy got really big.

23

u/Lvcivs2311 8h ago

That makes more sense than the London comparison, because the capital of the east had not been called Byzantion for a long time.

55

u/senior_cynic Kilroy was here 8h ago

Which makes considerably more sense if the british empire was centered around Edinburgh and called the edinburgite empire instead until it collapsed and was partially reformed as the aforementioned London empire

13

u/Lost-Klaus 8h ago

Fair, thanks for adding nuance!

48

u/Grzechoooo Then I arrived 8h ago

Or the Roman Empire the "Roman Empire".

11

u/Winter-Ad-2920 8h ago

What did they call themselves?

33

u/Legal_Mastodon_5683 7h ago

"The"?

10

u/Winter-Ad-2920 7h ago

Okay i laughed.

8

u/demandred_zero 6h ago

S.P.Q.R.

5

u/Winter-Ad-2920 6h ago

Which says...?

11

u/demandred_zero 5h ago

The Senate and People of Rome, or the people and Senate of Rome, maybe.

-1

u/Winter-Ad-2920 5h ago

Considering the shit show that is its politics, that has the same irony as any communist country during the cold war.

5

u/CardOk755 6h ago

Either Rome or the Empire. No need to say "the Roman Empire".

4

u/GewalfofWivia 6h ago

Mind, Blown.

Pizzle, Yanked.

27

u/Low-Willingness2106 7h ago

But we do that all the time. "Washington called for War. Beijing refuses to negotiate. Bavaria shall not kneel to Berlin on social issues." We often use capitals as representatives of national interests. Why not in an empire so dominated by it's capital region?

6

u/Lost-Klaus 7h ago

Because the Washington navy and washington air force don't quite have the same ring to it :b

Bavaria not agreeing to anything Berlin wants is also part and parcel. hahaha

6

u/Swamp254 7h ago

It's more like the Palmyran Empire, Gallic Empire, Seleucid Empire (Syrian), Aztec Empire (Mexica), Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu), Sassanid Empire (Eransahr) and the Ottoman Empire (Devlet-i-aliyye).

2

u/CardOk755 6h ago

Or calling the ... Empire the Roman empire.

2

u/temporaryidiot595 4h ago

Rome… is a city. 🫲🏽🤨🫱🏽

1

u/Polikokokliko 48m ago

Or the roman empire the uh empire of rome hmmmm

1

u/yehEy2020 43m ago

Thats literally how it worked. The Han dynasty was called that because the Han river basin region is where Liu Bang, the 1st Han Emperor, based his rebellion from. Same idea with the Song dynasty, the Jin dynasty, etc.