Is it just me or does everyone forget the Mongols when talking about Rome never falling?

Every time I see a post about Rome surviving, people act like the Mongols never existed, but Ghengis Khan was literally knocking on Europe's door by 1241 while Byzantium was still limping along. How do you even keep Rome alive when a horde of 100,000 horsemen shows up ready to burn everything?

3 comments

3 Comments

wesley_jones1mo ago

1241 is a good year to point at but I think people forget the Mongols actually pulled back from Europe on their own after Ogedei died. They weren't beaten, they left for a succession crisis back home. If Rome was still around with Constantinople still standing maybe they could have just waited it out like they did with Attila. The Huns came close to taking Rome in 452 but Pope Leo talked him down and the Huns went home after their own internal problems. Same pattern with the Mongols really. A surviving Eastern Roman Empire might have been able to negotiate or pay tribute until the Mongol empire fractured, which it did almost right after they pulled out of Hungary. Not saying it would be easy but Rome specialized in outlasting people.

the_anthony1mo ago

120,000 Mongol horsemen showed up at the gates of Hungary in 1241 and I can barely get 12 people to show up for a LAN party without three cancelations last minute. You'd basically need a united Christendom with actual strategy and supply lines, which history shows we were terrible at coordinating. If the Romans were still around, they'd probably just blame the IT guy for not patching the Theodosian Walls in time.

the_wendy1mo ago

Actually used to think we could pull together like in the Crusades if we really had to, but your point about supply lines and coordination totally changed my mind. Getting a dozen friends together for pizza and Halo is chaos enough, can't imagine trying to feed 120,000 horses while fighting the most organized army in the world. The Roman IT guy bit got me too, lol, probably still getting blamed for the wall breach centuries later.