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Message:: [QUOTE="John Conduitt, post: 4643953, member: 109923"]True, but perhaps a little harsh on the Byzantines. The Roman Empire had been decentralised back in the 280s by Diocletian (a Croatian who ruled from Nicomedia and deliberately avoided visiting Rome). There had been Emperors who weren't of 'Latin' descent since Philip I (of Syria) in 244. Even Constantine I was born in Serbia to an Albanian father and a Greek mother. Of course, it was Constantine I who founded Constantinople and adopted Christianity in the first place (resulting in Eastern Orthodoxy). He even popularised the use of the Greek letters 'Chi Rho' as a Christogram - much used on Byzantine coinage. 'Roman' was therefore already a much broader concept before Constantinople was even founded, while much of 'Byzantine' culture had Roman roots. On the other hand, the last ruler to claim to be a continuation of the Roman Empire was probably Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, whose legitimacy was based on a claim to power inherited from ancient Rome. That really was a political association to give an air of legitimacy. He was minting lira in Italy just 200 years ago.[/QUOTE]