Original sentence: It was also the single most important commercial center of Europe for much of the Medieval era, which status it held until Venice began to overtake Constantinople during the 13th and 14th centuries.Later, silk worms were smuggled into the Empire and the overland silk trade became less important.Raw silk was bought from China and India and made up into fine brocades and cloth-of-gold that commanded high prices through the world.The Byzantine economy was the most advanced in Europe for many centuries.The Byzantine empire's economy played a significant role in its longevity and power.The Byzantine solidus was the internationally preferred currency for 700 years, only gradually being superseded by Italian currencies (such as the Venetian ducat) after 1204.The wealth of the empire was unmatched by any state in Europe, and Constantinople for centuries was one of the wealthiest cities in the world.This economic wealth was helped enormously by the fact that Byzantium was the most important western terminal of the Silk Road
Edited sentence: The Byzantine empire's longevity was based on an economy with interesting and often complex structures.The Byzantine state had at its disposal resources that no medieval state, at least in Western Europe, could command until the end of the Middle Ages