<P> The process by which the empire waned, and from when its decline can be traced, is a matter of scholarly debate . In some cases, the entire history of the Byzantine Empire has been portrayed as a protracted period of decline of the Roman Empire . This holds especially for Enlightenment era writers such as Edward Gibbon, author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, whose view was coloured by pro-western or anti-clerical biases, and tended to see the whole ten - century empire as merely a sad codicil to the Roman Empire of Antiquity . </P> <P> Late - 20th - century and early - 21st - century historians have instead emphasized the empire's remarkable resiliency and adaptability to change . </P> <P> The Byzantine - Arab Wars and the Battle of Manzikert have traditionally been considered the most significant . However, recent books by Paul Magdalino and John Birkenmeier have re-evaluated the position of the empire in the 12th century, citing the collapse under the Angeloi (1185--1204) as the most decisive turning point in the empire's fortunes . Although this view is not universally held, historians generally agree that after the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the empire was only a shadow of its former self . The death of Michael VIII in 1282 marks the last period of Byzantine success on anything more than a minor scale . From this date onwards, the empire entered its final decline . </P> <P> The history of the empire includes a number of periods of crisis, interspersed with periods of at least partial recovery: </P>

What was one cause of the decline of the byzantine empire