Constantinople, 12 November

Proposal of Unification

His Majesty, Emperor Mikhail XIV and his advisors debated and decided to make
a unification proposal to the Byzantine Nations.

The articles we propose are the following:

Article I Basics
A. The name for the new state will be The United Crowns of the Roman Empire,
which will have two heads of state: the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire and
the President of the Vasilefs (King) of the Byzantine Nations.

B. All citizens of the two states will need just their identification cards to pass
from one state to another. Common passports will be made, in red color with the coat
of arms of the nation (see below) in gold color on them and the text "ΡΩΜΑΪΚΗ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΙΑ"
("Roman Empire").

C. The two states are considered equal and will maintain their own government
as well as their current head of state. On the maps they shall be shown as one.
The two states will make elections every 4 years for the federal government, and shall try
to have a common international stance. The capitol of the state shall be Constantinople. The currency shall be drachma, which will replace Nomisma and Euro.

Article II National symbols
The national symbols of the state shall be the current common ones of the two states;
The state and civilian flag will be a two-headed eagle with a crown above the two heads,
holding a sword and a ball, black-bordered and gold-colored, in yellow background.

The national coat of arms shall be the same eagle alone.

The national motto shall be the classic (east) roman "Βασιλεύς βασιλέων βασιλεύον
βασιλεύσιν" ("King of Kings, ruling over Kings).

Article III Ethnic and religious groups
Below are the recognised majorities and minorities of the state.

Major ethnic groups are the Romans (Greeks) (67.2%) and Turks (23.8%).
Rest 10% includes Slavs, Armenians, Bulgarians, Arabs, Jews, and Kurds.

Religious groups on the state are Eastern Orthodox, Sunni and Shiite Muslim, Judaist (Jewish),
Evangelist, and more minor ones.

Feel free to propose any additions.

Signed,

Mikhail Comnenus
Emperor Mikhail XIV Comnenus

ByzantineNations fuly backs and agrees with this unification treaty and urges other similar nations to join.

I see through your thinly vailed attempts at expansionism. Byzantinople will remain an independant state. I will not join your union. Good day.

Can Thracia include this on map?

Under a number (let's presume A), the new state (both states will have the same color) and then A.1 and A.2 with the two member states.

The two states can certainly be given the same color.

But I don't understand the other part of your post. The areas on the map have numbers, not letters. So A-1 and A-2 would be would be in total contrast to all the other area numbers.

The two states can be shown as 15A and 15B, if you wish.

that is what i meant.... lol. thanks in advance

I hate to get in the way of things, but Rome is my city.

I believe it'll be interesting to see the (various) Byzantine nations actually unite, as opposed to being separate like they're now (in r/l) :)

OOC: poor Turks =)

OK, the map will be modified to show the Byzantine unification in 24 hours.

Paradiszia... Not again... Pffh whatever.

Until Byzantine Nations is on so we can discuss a better name, add "Romanian" instead of "Roman", due to the old folk name "Romania" for the (east and west) roman empire

The regional map (http://dimostenis.home.att.net/nationstates.gif) has been updated to show the unification agreement concluded between the Eastern Roman Empire (-Byzantium-) (15A) and the Byzantine Nations (15B).

Sounds like a great idea for all you Byzantine nations, but my only protest to this is referring to it as "the Roman Empire" and referring to the Greeks as "Romans." You see, the Roman Empire is held close in Italy, and I'd just prefer that the name change, because the Byzantine Empire eventually was de-Romanized and re-Hellenized, making it a Greek kingdom, not a Roman one. To me, the nation that is Roman is Italy, not Greece.

True about the Hellenisation.
However it was the East Roman Empire, aka Byzantium.

So what's the difference between the Byzantine Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire?

I have once again returned from not posting and continue to not support this proposal.

Slavpo, there is no difference.

Byzantinople, good for you buddy.

*reads the thread*
this should be interesting to say the least..........

i thought that there was no difference. So 'who' calls it Byzantine and 'who' calls it the Eastern Roman Empire? I mean in history, academia, etc :)

To the best of my knowledge, the term Byzantine (which derives from Byzantium, the ancient name of Constantinople) was introduced and became prevalent after the fall of that empire, i.e. in the 15th Century. When the Empire was still alive, its rulers, its bureaucrats, and its intellectuals reffered to it as the New Rome or maybe Eastern Rome. I know for sure that the subjects of the Empire called themsleves Romaioi/Romioi (Romans).

Thank you, Thracia. See, this is the kind of succint information you can't find anywhere else except from someone.