RomanByzantine

RomanByzantine is a term used by some scholars to describe the long-running political and cultural continuum of the Eastern Mediterranean from late antiquity through much of the medieval period. It emphasizes the continuity of Roman imperial institutions and legal frameworks within the later, regionally distinct Byzantine world centered on Constantinople, while acknowledging the evolving Greek linguistic and Orthodox Christian milieu that came to define the era.

Politically, the Eastern Roman Empire persisted after the political collapse of the Western Empire, maintaining the office of the emperor, a complex bureaucracy, and military administration. Although its capital and identity increasingly reflected Greek language and culture, it regarded itself as the continuation of the Roman state. The empire endured for nearly a thousand years, adapting to changing borders, threats, and dynastic politics.

Culture and law form a core of the RomanByzantine understanding. Greek became the dominant language of administration and culture, even as Roman legal ideas remained foundational. The codification tradition culminated in the Justinian Code (Corpus Juris Civilis) in the 6th century, which influenced legal practice in Europe for centuries. In art, architecture, and liturgy, Roman heritage blended with Hellenistic influence and Christian iconography, producing distinctive Byzantine forms such as domed churches, mosaics, and liturgical rites.

Identity and historiography note that inhabitants often called themselves Romans (Rhomaioi); the term Byzantine is a retrospective label used by later historians. The RomanByzantine synthesis shaped governance, culture, and law, and it exerted a lasting influence on both European medieval entities and Orthodox Christian tradition, with a legacy felt in later Renaissance interest in classical texts and administrative practices.