[Antoninus]

Strictly speaking, though, the Roman empire was dead long before 1453 - Mohammed II might have been proud of conquering the scarecrow remains of Constantinople, but I doubt that he considered himself finishing off the Roman Empire.

Considering the animus this fellow has toward Christianity, I don't understand how he counts ANY of the years following the advent of the Christian emperors in his reckoning. It's especially odd in that the last defenders of Constantinople--Venetians, Genoese, and Spaniards for the most part--were there in defense of Christianity, not some long-dead ideal of pagan Roman glory.

[ffusco]

Nothing odd at all, by then The former Romans were all Christian. Even the Pope is refered to as the Pontiff Maximus as had been the Emperors as protectors of the faith in pagan times.