Continuation of the Romans by Panayiotis Hatzis

In all forms of society, people have constantly undergone a myriad of changes in their way of life. Ambitions, goals, objectives and values alter between generations. It is only natural for change to occur when civilisations evolve from their previous form. The current period in our History has the ability to look towards the past and view all the events to gain a better understanding of how our civilisations came into existence and how they can still transform. As for the European continent, there is undoubtedly no argument for how important and prominent the role the Roman Empire held in its existence. The Roman Empire's destiny, influence, and legacy changed Europe’s history drastically, lasting for almost two thousand years. From the Italian peninsula, the Roman Empire’s power expanded into the Balkans, the British Isles, France, Iberia, Middle East, North Africa, and parts of central Europe. With their conquests throughout the Mediterranean and beyond, what was left in these newly acquired provinces was their administration. The Roman Empire since the days of the republic spread Roman culture, laws, and religion throughout the empire in order to solidify their presence. Many cultures in the regions of France, Iberia, Northern Africa, and others converted to the new Roman way of life, thus creating new Roman cities filled with Roman citizens. The term Roman evolved throughout the entirety of the empire’s existence. It started as a title to describe ethnic Latin-speaking communities in Italia (Italy). As the empire grew in territory, the title of Roman ultimately changed with the acceptance of other cultural communities to gradually shift anew with Roman qualities. The definition of Roman varied between different communities and also had different ideas and concepts to what it meant. There were communities that considered ethnicity, geography, and language to be the defining factors of being Roman while other communities considered citizenship and culture as more important. During the height of the Roman Empire in 117 C.E., over time Roman identity soon transformed into a collective identity since the empire had its presence in different regional and ethnic communities, redefining the term Roman. Under the Roman Empire, the Hellenes (Greeks) did not fully assimilate. The Hellenes kept their language, Parthenon, and traditions while abiding and adapting Roman law into their society. Although the Hellenes kept their traditions and culture, they identified as being Roman. As a result, the descendants of the Hellenic communities in today’s modern Greek nation still use the Greek language, while many modern European nations such as France, Italy, Portugal, Romania, and Spain are the product of Roman assimilation evident with the use of Romance languages. This was a testament that the Eastern Romans maintained their cultural ties to their ethnicity although the ethnic Hellenes were Roman under Roman law. Roman culture was no longer a title only for a Latin ethnicity, the Hellenes were one of the biggest ethnic groups to adopt Roman as their own while still connected to their local culture. Naturally, like all identities, Roman identity was in constant shift through new reforms from different emperors, the myriad of divisions the empire underwent such as the final schism of the Roman Empire into west and east in the 4th century C.E. Although West Rome collapsed after multiple invasions from Germanic tribes, East Rome continued to exist for another thousand years. As a consequence, Roman became an identity tied to not only culture, but to the Hellenic ethnicity. To the Eastern Romans, to be a Hellene also meant to be Roman.

Prior to the invasion of Rome, the Hellenes (Greeks) regarded themselves as superior compared to the ethnic Roman (Latins) citizens since the Hellenes heavily influenced Roman culture, and religion. Before Roman presence in the Hellenic world, anyone not Hellenic was regarded as a βάρβαρος, “barbarian”, in the Hellenic world (Greece). This superiority perspective lasted until the fall of the Roman Empire in 1453 C.E. Since a good amount of the foundation of Roman culture and civilization was based on Hellenic origins, the Hellenes most likely saw Roman society as an indirect product of theirs which is why they still saw themselves as superior even after the Romans took control. Thus, it created a different relationship and status under Roman rule. The Hellenic influence in the ancient world stems back to the conquests of Alexander the Great which solidified Hellenic culture across the Mediterranean, and under Roman rule, the presence of the Hellenes was not that much affected due to the striking similarities between Roman and Hellenic life when it came to their religion, their education, their military structure, their shared values, and more. The status of Hellenism was almost immune to Roman cultural assimilation. The father of History, Herodotus, gave his description of what it meant to be a Hellene with four qualifications. The first was the ὅμαιμον, “of the same blood”, the second was ὁμόγλωσσον, “speaking the same language”, the third θεῶν ἱδρύματά τε κοινὰ καὶ θυσίαι, “Gods common institutions and divine sacrifices”, and the fourth requirement ἤθεα ὁμότροπα, “customs of like fashion”. The four distinctions still play a critical role in modern Greek society. However, with the progression into a secular world, Greeks have argued and discussed whether religion is necessary to be distinguished as Greek. The Hellenes gained Roman citizenship through naturalization, which meant they did not share geography nor the ethnic background of the Latins. Nevertheless, unlike the other communities under Roman rule who adopted the Roman way of life with the Latin language, the Hellenes kept their languages and their own religious rites which preserved their culture under Roman rule. The classifications that Herodotus provided still held relevancy since the Hellenes kept all four even while being controlled by foreign rulers, and both Hellenes and Latins shared a common image for their cultures. After the borders of Rome expanded and time passed, Roman became an umbrella term used to describe many communities under the empire who were Roman citizens but had different ethnic backgrounds. Integration was a crucial aspect to Roman identity spreading as it would retain their power in newly conquered lands. By implementing a new identity, you start a process where the citizens will align to your moral standards over time with the newer generations. A modern example of this manifesting are nations in the modern world such as the United States with their definition of American. Long before the Roman Empire was split between East and West Rome in 395 A.D., the two halves were divided by culture. In the west, there were Roman citizens speaking Latin, and in the eastern half, you had Greek speaking citizens. Although the eastern half spoke Greek in their cities in their daily use, when it came to law and administration, Latin was used as the official language.

As already established, to be Roman varied between different areas of the Roman Empire, yet all agreed they were Roman. The term Romanism is used to describe the political and cultural collection of concepts and practices by how the people of Rome defined themselves. This concept is based on being part of a political and cultural community with common values, customs, morality and way of life. This is how many modern nations also view their own identity. Namely, the shared practices they execute which reflect a wider community of similar people. Romanism was the idea that a culture is inclusive, dynamic, and multi-layered, and has fluidity of other identities under its jurisdiction. Romanism thrived throughout its existence by not only inserting itself into new communities under the empire but also morphing into a new identity as it took aspects from these different cultures it made contact with. This evolution of Romanism was reflected majorly in the Hellenic world since they adopted their new identity and adapted it to their needs to benefit and succeed in their societies. Non-ethnic Latin communities had to adapt to the system they were living in to somewhat preserve their origins while being under foreign rule like the Hellenes. The survival of Hellenism under the Roman Empire was a prime example of how communities continued the preservation of identity even while changing their title. Although the Hellenes stopped referencing their own identity to their Hellenic roots directly, their adoption of Rhomaioi still carried Hellenic value and weight that was reinforced by their symbols, language, and even cultural influence on Roman society. Even when the western half of the empire collapsed, the Eastern Roman Empire reflected what Romanism was all about. The Rhomaioi, although they spoke Greek, practiced and renovated Roman law under the reign of emperor Justinian, his changes are still used as a foundation in our current societal systems of government. When Christianity was legalized and introduced to Roman society, Romanness went through massive evolution, to be Christian meant to be Roman. The Rhomaioi also included this notion that being Roman had the underlying definition of Christianity. With further loss of territory, the Eastern Roman Empire was contained mainly in the Balkans, Anatolia, and parts of Italy which more or less housed Hellenic culture. This concept of ethnicity is a modern creation that helps modern historians better categorise communities under the Roman Empire. This idea did not exist during the time of the Roman Republic or the earlier life of the Roman Empire, Romanness became more concrete in the Eastern Roman Empire since the empire had the Hellenic world. The Hellenic identity transformed itself along with Romanism to become a new Roman ethnicity during the medieval period. Roman became an identity tied to not only culture but to Hellenism.