I should have been more precise. I meant in terms of being like the old Roman Empire. More in terms of vastness than anything.
The army for example had dropped about 75% in size by the timeframe I mentioned. And this is only the eastern half of the former empire.
So the empire was a shell of itself in terms of extent.
Would be as if California, Nevada and Oregon lived on as “Western America” in 2400 with continuity of govt. Impressive in some way but also nothing a contemporary from our time would recognize as being “The United States”.
Even the western roman empire wasn't really roman anymore. The emperor was not Italian, not based in Rome, and often with a disdain toward Rome, the vast majority of the army wasn't Italian either.
But the eastern roman empire was probably even less of an empire than it was roman. The definition of an "empire" is to rule over many kingdoms. When you are reduced to your own territory, you really aren't an empire anymore.
The army for example had dropped about 75% in size by the timeframe I mentioned. And this is only the eastern half of the former empire.
So the empire was a shell of itself in terms of extent.
Would be as if California, Nevada and Oregon lived on as “Western America” in 2400 with continuity of govt. Impressive in some way but also nothing a contemporary from our time would recognize as being “The United States”.