Also, if so, how come they identified themselves as citizens of a Roman Empire when Rome wasn't part of their empire?
The byzantines didn't leave the western Roman Empire it just fell to odoacer in 476 ad they considered themselves Roman due to the spiritual ancestry of constantine and the greco roman ideologies that remained as an integral part of their society.They also tried to re conquer Rome and they succeeded during the reign of Justinian thanks to the general belisarius but they weren't able to hold onto it effectively τσεκαρε τα video του καναλιου extra history για να μαθεις περισσοτερα για αυτο το θεμα