George Peatty wrote:
On 21 Aug 2006 16:26:21 -0700, "tomcervo" wrote:

The Roman Empire saw quite rightly that their future lie in the east.
They moved their capital to Constantinople and flourished for another
thousand years. The Rome that "fell" in 476 was a provincial outpost
full of overgrown ruins.

The glory that was Rome was dead by 476 AD. What moved to Constantinople
scarcely resembled the Rome of the Caesars, and wasn't worth nearly as much
..

It only surpassed Rome in every way--google up Hagia Sophia for an
example. That Rome of the Caesars went wrong by trying to build a land
empire; the eastern empire was of trade, and it dominated the trade
from east to weat.