Current Emperor Manuel I is a dynamic leader and a resourceful general determined to build on the progress made by his immediate predecessors in restoring the Empire to its former glory. The Empire is currently a shadow of its former self, having lost a great deal of territory in Asia Minor to the Seljuk Turks, and in other areas to internal strife and civil war. The Byzantines themselves merely see their Empire as an unbroken continuance of the Roman Empire and its Emperors. Byzantium is essentially the Greek speaking remnants of the Eastern Roman Empire and the centre of Orthodox Christianity.
