[Antoninus]

My Greek Orthodox friend doesn’t have anything good to say about them. It’s hard to explain away the sack of Constantinople.

Except that it would never have happened if the Byzantine Empire wasn't weak and loaded with grasping, duplicitous scoundrels for leaders.

Plus, after Manzikert, the eastern Romans were begging the west for help. If it hadn't come, the empire probably would have fallen a lot sooner than it finally did.

[RobbyS]

Well, then Greeks were no more greedy and grasping than the Venetians, who, were perhaps the prime heavies inn this tragedy. But the pope did not acquit himself well, either. Anyway, why there are more crusader castles in Greece than old pagan ruins. Incidently, I learned on my first trip to Athens that the Parthenon was in good repair until about 1696 when a shell from a naval vessel ignited a store of ammunition in the building. The present ruin is the result of restacking all the pieces they could find afterwards.