<Table> <Tr> <Td> "Whatever paper might be presented to the Emperor (Alexios III) for his signature, he signed it immediately; it did not matter that in this paper there was a senseless agglomeration of words, or that the supplicant demanded that one might sail by land or till the sea, or that mountains should be transferred into the middle of the seas or, as a tale says, that Athos should be put upon Olympus ." </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Nicetas Choniates </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> "Whatever paper might be presented to the Emperor (Alexios III) for his signature, he signed it immediately; it did not matter that in this paper there was a senseless agglomeration of words, or that the supplicant demanded that one might sail by land or till the sea, or that mountains should be transferred into the middle of the seas or, as a tale says, that Athos should be put upon Olympus ." </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Nicetas Choniates </Td> </Tr> <P> This troubled succession weakened the dynastic continuity and solidarity on which the strength of the Byzantine state had come to rely . The new emperor was a man of astounding contrasts . Handsome and eloquent, Andronikos was at the same time known for his licentious exploits . Energetic, able and determined, he had been called a "true Komnenos". However, he was also capable of terrifying brutality, violence and cruelty . </P>

The encompass the period from around 476 to 1400