Calling all history majors (not that I know any)

I was reading an article with the adjective Byzantine in it and decided to do some research into the word. My guess as to the definition was "long standing, unnecessarily complex". I looked it up and it turns out I'm fairly close - the Dictionary.com definition for the type of usage I'm thinking of is below:

Byz·an·tine
a. Of, relating to, or characterized by intrigue; scheming or devious: “a fine hand for Byzantine deals and cozy arrangements” (New York).
b. Highly complicated; intricate and involved: a bill to simplify the byzantine tax structure.

While I am pleased that my vocabulary includes this word, my wondering was more focused on why this usage is named after an ancient empire. Conveniently, Dictionary.com also includes a history recap giving a little background into this:

The city of Byzantium, later renamed Constantinople and then Istanbul, and the Byzantine Empire were vitiated by a bureaucratic overelaboration bordering on lunacy: quadruple banked agencies, dozens or even scores of superfluous levels and officials with high flown titles unrelated to their actual function, if any. Access to the Emperor and his council was controlled by powerful and inscrutable eunuchs and by rival sports factions.

I feel smarter but still would like more information of said empire. Sounds like some sort of bizarro world they had going on...

PS I think we should start renaming cities as in the case of Istanbul. I know St. Paul's done it one with Pig's Eye, but let's try to make this happen. How fun would it be to say "The city of Boston, later renamed Kennedytown and then Soxville". Think about it. You like it.