Evaluation of Roman Science

[Tarbicus]

Yes but why couldn't Byzantines at least keep inventing new machines, to repel those invaders? Why is it that, having been bequeathed Roman military structure and technology, they did so little with it that they themselves were technologically overtaken by Western Europeans fresh out of the middle Ages.

No, I think the fault lies with the Byzantine mindset which was so interested in mysticism and saint's lives, as well with as the political order (as you say) which was stagnant and un-promising. There's a term for it these days, byzantine, signifying something so labyrinthine and prone with treachery and corruption, that it baffles basic understanding.

http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=22249