The significance of the Byzantine Empire included all of the following EXCEPT
a. the empire's conquest of the Ottoman Empire and its inclusion of all the Middle East
b. the ability of the empire to spread its cultural and political influence to the Balkans and southern Russia
c. the importance of the empire's capital at Constantinople as a major urban center
d. the empire's ability to survive for almost a thousand years
e. its development of Orthodox Christianity, which broke off from Rome in 1054
Answer: A