The Sack of Constantinople: Byzantium, 1204

Location: Boswell 37

Constantinople, the center of the Roman world, is burning. For centuries it has stood against every assault, but finally fell to an army sent to save it: crusaders. These warriors from the West have cut out the heart of the Byzantine state and turned it into the center of a new Latin Empire, which pledges to subjugate the remaining Romans and convert them to the Catholic church. The last usurpers and imperial court members have fled the capital in every direction from Greece to Anatolia, leaving the Roman people leaderless in their time of greatest need. This committee, a collection of royal family members, officials, generals, and foreign envoys, must decide how to respond to this event, and fight back against the Fourth Crusade.