by James Hickman
Schiff Sovereign
It was early spring in the year 1171 AD when Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos decided to go to war against his much smaller ally– Venice. And the historical record shows that it was a really bad idea.
The Byzantine Empire was still a vast and powerful state by the late 12th century. But it was becoming obvious to anyone paying attention that they were in serious decline.
The Byzantine treasury was almost always empty. Imperial debt was piling up left and right. Byzantine borders were constantly being invaded by Muslim hordes. And the imperial coin– the gold solidus– was beginning to fall out of favor as the dominant currency for international trade.
Perhaps most importantly, there were a great deal of inexperienced or incompetent Emperors who stood by and did nothing while adversaries exploited imperial weakness.