2941: Non-Roman Romans Jan 9, 2025

The self-identification of Ottoman Greeks and Romani people [gypsies] as "Romans" reveals a fascinating layer of linguistic and cultural history. Ottoman Greeks commonly referred to themselves as Rhomaioi (Ῥωμαῖοι), a term that persisted even after the fall of the Byzantine Empire—which called itself the Roman Empire—and indeed after the creation of the Hellenic State in the 1820’s.

The independent Greeks began to refer to themselves as Hellenes but the remaining Ottoman Greeks did not adopt the new term, still regarding themselves as a continuation of the Roman legacy. The Ottoman authorities supported this identity by officially designating the Greek Orthodox community as the Rum Millet (Roman nation), in Turkish.

 Similarly, many Romani groups in the Balkans use variations of the term Rum or Rom to describe themselves. This name likely originated from their historical presence within the Byzantine and Ottoman realms, where they identified with the dominant cultural and administrative systems.