Ῥωμαῖοι (Rhōmaîoi) | |
|---|---|
 Scenes of agricultural life in a Byzantine Gospel of the 11th century. | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Byzantine Empire (esp.Asia Minor,Balkans) | |
| Languages | |
| Medieval Greek | |
| Religion | |
| Eastern Orthodox Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Ottoman Greeks,Greeks |
Rhomaioi orRomaioi (Ῥωμαῖοι) were the Greek-speaking inhabitants ofSouthern Europe andWestern Asia that identified as Romans starting fromLate Antiquity. Although modern scholarship commonly refers to these populations asByzantines,Eastern Romans, orByzantine Greeks, they consistently understood their identity as Roman, rooted in imperial continuity, theChristian faith, and theGreek language and culture. Over time, Rhōmaios became closely associated with theEastern Orthodox Church as well as Greek speech, and the identity continued in use amongGreek Orthodox communities after thefall of Constantinople in 1453.
During most of the Middle Ages, theRhōmaîoi (Ῥωμαῖοι) identified as "Romans", meaningcitizens of theRoman Empire). It is now a term in theGreek language that is synonymous with Christian Greeks.[1][2]
The Latin termGraikoí (from Γραικοί, "Greeks") was also used,[3] which was rare in official Byzantine political correspondence prior to the Fourth Crusade of 1204.[4] The nameHellenes was synonymous to "pagan" in popular use, but was revived as an ethnonym in the Middle Byzantine period (11th century).[5]
While in the West the term "Roman" acquired a new meaning in connection with theCatholic Church and theBishop of Rome, the Greek form "Romaioi" remained attached to the Greeks of the Eastern Roman Empire.[6] Despite the shift in terminology in the West, the Byzantines Empire's eastern neighbors, such as the Arabs, continued to refer to the Rhomaioi as "Romans", as for instance in the 30thSurah of the Quran (Ar-Rum).[7] The signifier "Roman" (Rum millet, "Roman nation") was also used by the Byzantines' laterOttoman rivals, and its Turkish equivalentRûm, "Roman", continues to be used officially by the government ofTurkey to denote the Greek Orthodox natives (Rumlar) ofIstanbul, as well as theEcumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (Turkish:Rum Ortodoks Patrikhanesi, "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate"[8]).[9]
Among Slavic populations of southeast Europe, such as Bulgarians and Serbs the name "Rhomaioi" (Romans) in their languages was most commonly translated as "Greki" (Greeks). Some Slavonic texts during the early medieval era also used the termsRimljani orRomei.[10] At least one 11th-century Bulgarian source is attested which refers to "Ellini rimski" (Roman Hellenes).[11] In most medieval Bulgarian sources the Byzantine Emperors were the "Tsars of the Greeks" and the Byzantine Empire was known as "Tsardom of the Greeks". Both rulers of theDespotate of Epirus and theEmpire of Nicaea were also "Greek tsars ruling over Greek people".[12]
Equally, amongNordic people such asIcelanders,Varangians (Vikings) and other Scandinavian people, "Rhomaioi" were called "Grikkr" (Greeks). There are various runic inscriptions left in Norway, Sweden and even inAthens by travellers and members of theVarangian Guard likeGreece runestones and thePiraeus Lion which we meet the termsGrikkland (Greece) andGrikkr referring to their ventures in Byzantine Empire and their interaction with the Byzantines.[13]
The Rhomaioi are aGreek-speaking andOrthodox Christian people that historically inhabited the lands of theByzantine Empire duringLate Antiquity and theMiddle Ages;[a][b] They represented the dominant culture of the empire, which they calledRhomania (Ancient Greek:Ῥωμανία), primarily in the southernBalkans,Asia Minor, and other parts of theeastern Mediterranean. Throughout their history, they self-identified asRomans (Ancient Greek:Ῥωμαῖοι,Rhōmaîoi); medieval Europeans called them Greeks in their languages, while in the Islamic world they were known asRum.
Use ofGreek was already widespread in the eastern Roman Empire whenConstantine I (r. 306–337) moved its capital toConstantinople, whileThrace and Anatolia (which now made up the core of the empire) had also beenhellenized by early Byzantine times.[24][25] The empire lost its predominantly non-Greek speaking provinces (Syria,Egypt,North Africa) by the 7th centuryMuslim conquests and its population was overwhelmingly Greek-speaking by the 8th century.[26] Unlike the early medieval West, the Greek education of the East was more advanced, resulting in widespread basic literacy. Success came easily to Greek-speaking merchants, who enjoyed a strong position in international trade.
After thefall of the empire, theOttomans used the term "Rum millet" ("Roman nation") for their Greek and Eastern Orthodox populations.[27] It increasingly transformed into an ethnic identity, marked by Greek language and Orthodoxy, shaping modernGreek identity.[28][29] Although the term 'Hellen' was briefly revived by theNicaenean elite and in intellectual circles byGemistos Plethon andJohn Argyropoulos,[30] the Roman self-identification persisted until theGreek Revolution, when 'Hellen' came to replace it. Greeks still sometimes use "Romioi" ("Romans") in addition to "Hellenes", and "Romaic" ("Roman") for theModern Greek language.[31][32]
The Eastern Roman Empire was in language and civilization a Greek society.[33] Linguistically, Byzantine or medieval Greek is situated between the Hellenistic (Koine) and modern phases of the language.[34] Since as early as theHellenistic era,Greek had been thelingua franca of the educated elites of the EasternMediterranean, spoken natively in the southernBalkans, the Greek islands, Asia Minor, and the ancient and HellenisticGreek colonies ofSouthern Italy, theBlack Sea, Western Asia andNorth Africa.[35] At the beginning of the Byzantine millennium, thekoine (Greek: κοινή) remained the basis for spoken Greek and Christian writings, whileAttic Greek was the language of the philosophers and orators.[36]
As Christianity became the dominant religion, Attic began to be used in Christian writings in addition to and often interspersed withkoine Greek.[36] Nonetheless, from the 6th at least until the 12th century, Attic remained entrenched in the educational system; while further changes to the spoken language can be postulated for the early and middle Byzantine periods.[36]
The population of the Byzantine Empire, at least in its early stages, had a variety of mother tongues including Greek.[36] These included Latin,Aramaic,Coptic, andCaucasian languages, whileCyril Mango also cites evidence for bilingualism in the south and southeast.[37] These influences, as well as an influx of people of Arabic, Celtic, Germanic, Turkic, and Slavic backgrounds, supplied medieval Greek with manyloanwords that have survived in the modern Greek language.[37] From the 11th century onward, there was also a steady rise in the literary use of the vernacular.[37]
Following theFourth Crusade, there was increased contact with the West; and thelingua franca of commerce became Italian. In the areas of the Crusader kingdoms a classical education (Greek: παιδεία,paideia) ceased to be asine qua non of social status, leading to the rise of the vernacular.[37] From this era many beautiful works in the vernacular, often written by people deeply steeped in classical education, are attested.[37] A famous example is the four Ptochoprodromic poems attributed to Theodoros Prodromos.[37] From the 13th to the 15th centuries, the last centuries of the Empire, there arose several works, including laments, fables, romances, and chronicles, written outside Constantinople, which until then had been the seat of most literature, in an idiom termed by scholars as "Byzantine Koine".[37]
However, thediglossia of the Greek-speaking world, which had already started in ancient Greece, continued underOttoman rule and persisted in the modern Greek state until 1976, although Koine Greek remains the official language of theGreek Orthodox Church. As shown in the poems of Ptochoprodromos, an early stage of modern Greek had already been shaped by the 12th century and possibly earlier. Vernacular Greek continued to be known as "Romaic" ("Roman") until the 20th century.[38]
At the time of Constantine the Great (r. 306–337), barely 10% of the Roman Empire's population wereChristians, with most of them being urban population and generally found in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. The majority of people still honoured the old gods in the public Roman way ofreligio.[39] As Christianity became a complete philosophical system, whose theory and apologetics were heavily indebted to the Classic word, this changed.[40] In addition, Constantine, asPontifex Maximus, was responsible for the correctcultus orveneratio of the deity which was in accordance with former Roman practice.[41] The move from the old religion to the new entailed some elements of continuity as well as break with the past, though the artistic heritage of paganism was literally broken by Christian zeal.[42]
Christianity led to the development of a few phenomena characteristic of Byzantium. Namely, the intimate connection between Church and State, a legacy of Romancultus.[42] Also, the creation of a Christian philosophy that guided Byzantine Greeks in their everyday lives.[42] And finally, the dichotomy between the Christian ideals of theBible and classical Greekpaideia which could not be left out, however, since so much of Christian scholarship and philosophy depended on it.[40][42] These shaped Byzantine Greek character and the perceptions of themselves and others.
Christians at the time of Constantine's conversion made up only 10% of the population.[39] This would rise to 50% by the end of the fourth century and 90% by the end of the fifth century.[42] EmperorJustinian I (r. 527–565) then brutally mopped up the rest of the pagans, highly literate academics on one end of the scale and illiterate peasants on the other.[42] A conversion so rapid seems to have been rather the result of expediency than of conviction.[42]
The survival of the Empire in the East assured an active role of the emperor in the affairs of the Church. The Byzantine state inherited from pagan times the administrative and financial routine of organising religious affairs, and this routine was applied to theChristian Church. Following the pattern set byEusebius of Caesarea, the Byzantines viewed the emperor as a representative or messenger ofChrist, responsible particularly for the propagation of Christianity among pagans, and for the "externals" of the religion, such as administration and finances. The imperial role in the affairs of the Church never developed into a fixed, legally defined system, however.[43]
With the decline of Rome, and internal dissension in the other Eastern patriarchates, the church of Constantinople became, between the 6th and 11th centuries, the richest and most influential centre ofChristendom.[44] Even when the Byzantine Empire was reduced to only a shadow of its former self, the Church, as an institution, exercised so much influence both inside and outside the imperial frontiers as never before. AsGeorge Ostrogorsky points out:[45]
"The Patriarchate of Constantinople remained the center of the Orthodox world, with subordinate metropolitan sees and archbishoprics in the territory of Asia Minor and the Balkans, now lost to Byzantium, as well as in Caucasus, Russia and Lithuania. The Church remained the most stable element in the Byzantine Empire."
In terms of religion, ByzantineGreek Macedonia is also significant as being the home ofSaints Cyril and Methodius, two Greek brothers fromThessaloniki (Salonika) who were sent on state-sponsored missions to proselytize among the Slavs of the Balkans and east-central Europe. This involved Cyril and Methodius having to translate the Christian Bible into the Slavs' own language, for which they invented an alphabet that became known asOld Church Slavonic. In the process, this cemented the Greek brothers' status as the pioneers of Slavic literature and those who first introduced Byzantine civilization andOrthodox Christianity to the hitherto illiterate and pagan Slavs.
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According to Stouraitis (2014), there have been three main approaches regarding the medieval eastern Roman identity inByzantine scholarship.[46]
Throughout their history, the Byzantines identified as Romans (Romaioi).[48] The defining traits of being considered one of theRhomaioi were being anEastern Orthodox Christian and more importantly speakingGreek, characteristics which had to be acquired by birth if one was not to be considered anallogenes or even a barbarian.[49] The term mostly used to describe someone who was a foreigner to both the Byzantines and their state wasethnikós (Greek:ἐθνικός), a term which originally describednon-Jews or non-Christians, but had lost its religious meaning.[50] In a classicizing vein usually applied to other peoples, Byzantine authors regularly referred to their people as "Ausones", an ancient name for the original inhabitants ofItaly.[51] Most historians agree that the defining features of their civilization were: 1)Greek language, culture, literature, and science, 2)Roman law and tradition, 3)Christian faith.[52] The Byzantine Greeks were, and perceived themselves as, heirs to theculture of ancient Greece,[53] the political heirs ofimperial Rome,[54][55] and followers of theApostles.[56] Thus, their sense of "Romanity" was different from that of their contemporaries in the West. "Romaic" was the name of the vulgar Greek language, as opposed to "Hellenic" which was its literary or doctrinal form.[57] Being a Roman was mostly a matter of culture and religion rather than speaking Greek or living within Byzantine territory, and had nothing to do with race.[58] Some Byzantines began to use the nameGreek (Hellen) with its ancient meaning of someone living in the territory of Greece rather than its usually Christian meaning of "pagan".[58] Realizing that the restored empire held lands of ancient Greeks and had a population largely descended from them, some scholars such asGeorge Gemistos Plethon andJohn Argyropoulos[59][60][61] put emphasized pagan Greek and Christian Roman past, mostly during a time of Byzantine political decline.[58] However such views were part of a few learned people, and the majority of Byzantine Christians would see them as nonsensical or dangerous.[58] After 1204 the Byzantine successor entities were mostly Greek-speaking but not nation-states like France and England of that time.[58] The risk or reality of foreign rule, not some sort of Greek national consciousness was the primary element that drew contemporary Byzantines together.[58] Byzantine elites and common people nurtured a high self-esteem based on their perceived cultural superiority towards foreigners, whom they viewed with contempt, despite the frequent occurrence of compliments to an individual foreigner as anandreîos Rhōmaióphrōn (ἀνδρεῖος Ῥωμαιόφρων, roughly "a brave Roman-minded fellow").[50] There was always an element of indifference or neglect of everything non-Greek, which was therefore "barbarian".[62]
In official discourse, "all inhabitants of the empire were subjects of the emperor, and therefore Romans." Thus the primary definition ofRhōmaios was "political or statist."[63] In order to succeed in being a full-blown and unquestioned "Roman" it was best to be aGreek Orthodox Christian and a Greek-speaker, at least in one's public persona.[63] Yet, the cultural uniformity which the Byzantine church and the state pursued through Orthodoxy and the Greek language was not sufficient to erase distinct identities, nor did it aim to.[62][63]
Often one's local (geographic) identity could outweigh one's identity as aRhōmaios. The termsxénos (Greek:ξένος) andexōtikós (Greek:ἐξωτικός) denoted "people foreign to the local population," regardless of whether they were from abroad or from elsewhere within the Byzantine Empire.[50] "When a person was away from home he was a stranger and was often treated with suspicion. A monk from western Asia Minor who joined a monastery inPontus was 'disparaged and mistreated by everyone as a stranger'. The corollary to regional solidarity was regional hostility."[64]
Provincial identities, referred to asethnē (έθνη) orgenē (γένη), were fully imbricated in the imperial system, as the Roman habit of referring to the population with their provincial labels (εθνικά,ethnika[65]) persisted in the Byzantine society.[66] In the middle Byzantine period, new administrative districts, known asthemata, were superimposed on the ancient provinces, giving rise to new or reviving old provincial labels; such as the "genos ofOpsikion" and "Anatolikon" respectively.[67] Scholarship typically views these labels to have functioned as Byzantine "ethnicities",[65] or according toAnthony Kaldellis, as "pseudo-ethnicities", as those groups were not distinguished in culture or their shared Eastern Roman identity.[68]
From an evolutionary standpoint, Byzantium was the multi-ethnic Roman state that conquered theGreek East, turned into aChristian empire, and ended in 1453, as aGreek Orthodox state; it had become anation, almost by the modern meaning of the word.[69] The presence of a distinctive and historically rich literary culture was also very important in the division between "Greek" East and "Latin" West, and thus the formation of both.[70] It was a multi-ethnic empire where theHellenic element was predominant, especially in the later period.[63]
Spoken language and state, the markers of identity that were to become a fundamental tenet of nineteenth-century nationalism throughout Europe became, by accident, a reality during a formative period of medieval Greek history.[71] After the Empire lost non-Greek speaking territories in the 7th and 8th centuries, "Greek" (Ἕλλην), when not used to signify "pagan", became synonymous with "Roman" (Ῥωμαῖος) and "Christian" (Χριστιανός) to mean a Christian Greek citizen of the Eastern Roman Empire.[1]
In the context of increasingVenetian andGenoese power in the eastern Mediterranean, association with Hellenism took deeper root among the Byzantine elite, on account of a desire to distinguish themselves from the Latin West and to lay legitimate claims to Greek-speaking lands.[72] From the 12th century onwards, Byzantine Roman writers started to disassociate themselves from the Empire'spre-Constantinian Latin past, regarding henceforth the transfer of the Roman capital to Constantinople byConstantine as their founding moment and reappraised the normative value of the paganHellenes, even though the latter were still viewed as a group distinct from the Byzantines.[73] The first time the term "Hellene" was used to mean "Byzantine" in official correspondence was in a letter to EmperorManuel I Komnenus (1118–1180).[74] Beginning in the twelfth century and especially after 1204, certain Byzantine Greek intellectuals began to use the ancient Greek ethnonymHéllēn (Greek:Ἕλλην) in order to describe Byzantine civilisation.[75] After thefall of Constantinople to the Crusaders in 1204, a small circle of the elite of theEmpire of Nicaea used the termHellene as a term of self-identification.[76] For example, in a letter toPope Gregory IX, the Nicaean emperorJohn III Doukas Vatatzes (r. 1221–1254) claimed to have received the gift of royalty from Constantine the Great, and put emphasis on his "Hellenic" descent, exalting the wisdom of the Greek people. He was presenting Hellenic culture as an integral part of the Byzantine polity in defiance of Latin claims. EmperorTheodore II Laskaris (r. 1254–1258), the only one during this period to systematically employ the termHellene as a term of self-identification, tried to revive Hellenic tradition by fostering the study of philosophy, for in his opinion there was a danger that philosophy "might abandon the Greeks and seek refuge among the Latins".[77][78] For historians of the court of Nikaia, however, such asGeorge Akropolites andGeorge Pachymeres,Rhomaios remained the only significant term of self-identification, despite traces of influence of the policy of the Emperors of Nikaia in their writings.[79]
During thePalaiologan dynasty, after the Byzantines recaptured Constantinople,Rhomaioi became again dominant as a term for self-description and there are few traces ofHellene, such as in the writings ofGeorge Gemistos Plethon;[59] theneo-platonic philosopher boasted "We are Hellenes by race and culture," and proposed a reborn Byzantine Empire following a utopian Hellenic system of government centered inMystras.[60] Under the influence of Plethon,John Argyropoulos, addressed EmperorJohn VIII Palaiologos (r. 1425–1448) as "Sun King of Hellas"[61] and urged the last Byzantine emperor,Constantine XI Palaiologos (r. 1449–1453), to proclaim himself "King of the Hellenes".[80] These largely rhetorical expressions of Hellenic identity were confined in a very small circle and had no impact on the people. They were however continued byByzantine intellectuals who participated in theItalian Renaissance.[75]
In the eyes of the West, after the coronation ofCharlemagne, the Byzantines were not acknowledged as the inheritors of the Roman Empire. Byzantium was rather perceived to be a corrupted continuation of ancient Greece, and was often derided as the "Empire of the Greeks" or "Kingdom of Greece". Such denials of Byzantium's Roman heritage and ecumenical rights would instigate the first resentments between Greeks and "Latins" (for the Latin liturgical rite) or "Franks" (for Charlemegne's ethnicity), as they were called by the Greeks.[62][81][82]
Popular Western opinion is reflected in theTranslatio militiae, whose anonymous Latin author states that the Greeks had lost their courage and their learning, and therefore did not join in the war against the infidels. In another passage, the ancient Greeks are praised for their military skill and their learning, by which means the author draws a contrast with contemporary Byzantine Greeks, who were generally viewed as a non-warlike and schismatic people.[62][81][82] While this reputation seems strange to modern eyes given the unceasing military operations of the Byzantines and their eight century struggle against Islam and Islamic states, it reflects the realpolitik sophistication of the Byzantines, who employed diplomacy and trade as well as armed force in foreign policy, and the high-level of their culture in contrast to the zeal of the Crusaders and the ignorance and superstition of the medieval West. As historian Steven Runciman has put it:[83]
A turning point in how both sides viewed each other is probably themassacre of Latins in Constantinople in 1182. The massacre followed the deposition ofMaria of Antioch, a Norman-Frankish (therefore "Latin") princess who was ruling as regent to her infant son EmperorAlexios II Komnenos. Maria was deeply unpopular due to the heavy-handed favoritism that had been shown the Italian merchants during the regency and popular celebrations of her downfall by the citizenry of Constantinople quickly turned to rioting and massacre. The event and the horrific reports of survivors inflamed religious tensions in the West, leading to the retaliatorysacking ofThessalonica, the empire's second largest city, byWilliam II of Sicily. An example of Western opinion at the time is the writings ofWilliam of Tyre, who described the "Greek nation" as "a brood of vipers, like a serpent in the bosom or a mouse in the wardrobe evilly requite their guests".[84]
In the East, the Persians and Arabs continued to regard the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Greeks as "Romans" (Arabic: ar-Rūm) after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, for instance, the 30thsurah of the Quran (Ar-Rum) refers to the defeat of the Byzantines ("Rum" or "Romans") underHeraclius by the Persians at theBattle of Antioch (613), and promises an eventual Byzantine ("Roman") victory.[85] This traditional designation of the Byzantines as [Eastern] Romans in the Muslim world continued through the Middle Ages, leading to names such as theSultanate of Rum ("Sultanate over the Romans") in conquered Anatolia and personal names such asRumi, the mystical Persian poet who lived in formerly ByzantineKonya in the 1200s.[86] Late medieval Arab geographers still saw the Byzantines as Rum (Romans) not as Greeks, for instanceIbn Battuta saw the, then collapsing, Rum as "pale continuators and successors of the ancient Greeks (Yunani) in matters of culture."[87]
The MuslimOttomans also referred to their Byzantine Greek rivals asRûm, "Romans", and that term is still in official use inTurkey for the Greek-speaking natives (Rumlar) ofIstanbulcf.Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (Turkish:Rum Ortodoks Patrikhanesi, "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate"[88]).[9] Many place-names in Anatolia derive from this Turkish word (Rûm, "Romans") for the Byzantines:Erzurum ("Arzan of the Romans"),Rumelia ("Land of the Romans"), and Rumiye-i Suğra ("Little Rome", the region of Amasya andSivas).[89]
Forming the majority of the Byzantine Empire proper at the height of its power, the Byzantine Greeks gradually came under the dominance of foreign powers with the decline of the Empire during the Middle Ages. The majority of Byzantine Greeks lived in the Ionian islands, the southern Balkans, and Aegean islands, Crete and Asia Minor. Following theend of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, there were many migration waves of Byzantine Greek scholars and emigres to the west, which is considered by many scholars key to the revival ofGreek studies that led to the development of theRenaissance humanism andscience. These emigres brought to Western Europe the relatively well-preserved remnants and accumulated knowledge of their own (Greek) civilization, which had mostly not survived the Early Middle Ages in the West. By 1500, theGreek community of Venice numbered about 5,000 members. The community was very active inVenice with the notable members such asAnna Notaras (the daughter ofLoukas Notaras, the lastmegas doux of theByzantine Empire),Thomas Flanginis (the founder of theFlanginian School) and many others. Additionally, the community founded the confraternityScuola dei Greci in 1493. The Venetians also ruledCrete, theIonian Islands and scattered islands and port cities of the former empire, the populations of which were augmented by refugees from other Byzantine provinces who preferred Venetian to Ottoman governance. Crete was especially notable for theCretan School oficon-painting, whereEl Greco came from and which after 1453 became the most important in the Greek world.[92]
Nearly all of these Byzantine Greeks fell under Turkish Muslim rule by the 16th century. A notable group were thePhanariots, they emerged as a class of wealthy Greek merchants (of mostly noble Byzantine descent) during the second half of the 16th century, and were influential in the administration of the Ottoman Empire's Balkan domains and theDanubian Principalities in the 18th century.[93] The Phanariots usually built their houses in thePhanar quarter to be near the court of thePatriarch.
Many retained their identities, eventually comprising the modern Greek and Cypriot states, as well as theCappadocian Greek andPontic Greek minorities of the new Turkish state. These latter groups, the legacy Byzantine groups of Anatolia, were forced to emigrate from Turkey to Greece in 1923 by thePopulation exchange between Greece and Turkey. Other Byzantine Greeks, particularly in Anatolia, converted toIslam and underwentTurkification over time.[94] Additionally, those who came under Arab Muslim rule, either fled their former lands or submitted to the new Muslim rulers, receiving the status ofDhimmi. Over the centuries these surviving Christian societies of former Byzantine Greeks in Arab realms evolved intoAntiochian Greeks (Melkites) or merged into the societies ofArab Christians, existing to this day.
Many Greek Orthodox populations, particularly those outside the newly independentmodern Greek state, continued to refer to themselves asRomioi (i.e. Romans, Byzantines) well into the 20th century.Peter Charanis, who was born on the island ofLemnos in 1908 and later became a professor ofByzantine history atRutgers University, recounts that when the island was taken from the Ottomans by Greece in 1912, Greek soldiers were sent to each village and stationed themselves in the public squares. Some of the island children ran to see what Greek soldiers looked like. ‘'What are you looking at?’’ one of the soldiers asked. ‘'At Hellenes,’’ the children replied. ‘'Are you not Hellenes yourselves?’’ the soldier retorted. ‘'No, we are Romans,’’ the children replied.[95] The Roman identity also survives prominently in some Greek populations outside of Greece itself. For instance,Greeks in Ukraine, settled there as part ofCatherine the Great'sGreek Plan in the 18th century, maintain Roman identity, designating themselves asRumaioi.[96]
The story of Alexander the Great, in both prose and verse form, was a popular favorite which nurtured generations of Byzantine Greeks
This exceptional period in Greece when Byzantine Greeks and Crusader Latins attempted to co-exist has recently become a subject for more detailed coverage and assessment.
through (Hellenist) Greeks and came back to the (Byzantine) Greeks again. Like Alexander, a pre-Roman Greek, the 'Roman Greeks,' the Byzantines, play the role of mediators
as a result crusading was directed mainly against the Byzantine Greeks.
it will be seen that the tradition of literary language inherited by the post-Byzantine Greek world was a very complex one
Were the Byzantine Greeks just as imitative?
It is said that more than four thousand Latins of various age, sex, and condition were delivered thus to barbarous nations for a price. In such fashion did the perfidious Greek nation, a brood of vipers, like a serpent in the bosom or a mouse in the wardrobe evilly requite their guests—those who had not deserved such treatment and were far from anticipating anything of the kind; those to whom they had given their daughters, nieces, and sisters as wives and who, by long living together, had become their friends.
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