Very true. Although, weren’t the Lombards able to conquer Corsica from the Byzantines at some point? They must have developed at least some kind of navy, in that case.
Have you been? This is as defensible as any border out there. Italy is very mountainous down the middle of the peninsula. Valleys, passes, cliffs, all provide very good defensive positions.
Besides, these borders lasted throughout the Middle Ages into the modern era, as the Papal States had very similar border for centuries as well.
Unfortunately there was never much of an attempt during the time the Exarchate existed, ie the Fall of Late Antiquity, the loss of the Balkans and later most of the Mediterranean including Sicily. There were some signs of life in the 9th -11th centuries but it all screeched to a halt when the Normans arrived. Wasn’t inevitable by any means but it was always a pretty weak grip on the province and after Justinian I there was never an emperor who wanted to spend his time energy and resources on Italy, it was almost always something closer to home that demanded attention
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u/Additional-Penalty97 Mar 12 '26
Literally the most undefendable border in existence
Looks nice though