Re:What Do We Get Wrong About the Byzantine Empire?
by golergka on Monday February 26, 2024 @07:55PM
(#39518735)
Thats incorrect. Greek may not have been their main language, but most of educated and especially noble Romans spoke it. It was language of poetry and philosophy, speaking it was a shibollet of belonging to the educated. Mark Aurelius Antoninus, for example, wrote his Meditations in Greek, not Latin.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:What Do We Get Wrong About the Byzantine Empire?
by sapphicsnail on Monday February 26, 2024 @08:43PM
(#39519047)
There's also a lot of republican authors that compare Latin infavorably to Greek. This was during the "Golden Age" of Latin literature. Part of why the Aeneid was such a huge deal is that a lot Roman's didn't think you could write a good epic in Latin.
Re:What Do We Get Wrong About the Byzantine Empire?
by coldtea on Tuesday February 27, 2024 @05:48AM
(#39522537)
>Thats incorrect. Greek may not have been their main language, but most of educated and especially noble Romans spoke it
I wrote:"The Eastern provinces yes [did speak Greek]. The emperors however, when Byzantium was established did not"
The official language of the emperors and the state was latin, until Heraclius, 3 centuries after Constatinople was established.
Emperors spoke Latin regardless of whether they knew Greek as part of their cultural education. And some only had a more basic grasp, or were versed in ancient Greek (to read the relevant literature) more than colloquial late antiquity Greek. Constantine for example had a basic command of Greek, but still needed translators for anything official.