Byzantine

Introduction

Byzantine /bɪˈzantʌɪn,bʌɪˈzantʌɪn,ˈbɪzntʌɪn,ˈbɪzntiːn/

adjective

1. relating to Byzantium (now Istanbul), the Byzantine Empire, or the Eastern Orthodox Church.

2.(of a system or situation) excessively complicated, and typically involving a great deal of administrative detail.

"Byzantine insurance regulations"

noun

a citizen of Byzantium or the Byzantine Empire.

This is for Penny Fuller's Challenge which you can read about below.

The music is "Hikanatoi " by Farya Faraji . He says:

The Hikanatoi were an elite section of the Byzantine army based near Constantinople. They were founded in the 9th century and ended in the 11th. Please take note that this isn't actual Byzantine music, nor does it seek to be--it's modern "Epic" music which mixes a "film soundtrack" style with Modern Greek musical language to produce an image of Byzantine civilisation, not a reconstructive work. I don't claim any authenticity with this piece beyond a very general Greek and Byzantine "vibe," nothing more.

Byzantine Thoughts

I love the word Byzantine, it fires my imagination thinking of minarets and middle Eastern mystics, and magic. Swarthy warriors with scimitars. I love the thought of Byzantium, which became Constantinople and is now Istanbul.

Standing between the Sea of Marmaris and the Black Sea.

It also makes me think of Babylon and the Hanging Gardens, the names are slightly similar.

Byzantine

I came here in search of magic, seduced by the very name, the smells of herbs and spices and more esoteric drugs, which once they entered me would never let me leave.

Every day I become more Byzantine, my skin more tanned by the sun, and my mind becoming more reliant of the drugs and spices of this place.

If someone were to come to take me home they would find that I was gone, and some new desperate interloper had stolen my body.

I was European but he is now a true Byzantine, and that is how he will be until the end of his days.