Recognizably Roman State.

[Gaius Octavius]

Northern Neil posted this in another thread:

 

I suppose Heraclius. The Roman Empire of course carried on henceforth in a different cultural phase, but I believe Heraclius was the last emperor to govern a recognisably Roman state.

 

Not to befoul the other thread, what do you mean by this?

[Northern Neil]

Prior to Heraclius' reign the language of government was latin, the army was organised on the late Roman model, some classical cities still prospered in Greece and Asia minor and geographically, the 'shape' of the Empire - at least in the East - was much the same as in Augustus' day, with imperial frontiers roughly corresponding to those in the days of the principate. Persia remained the principal enemy and rival, as of old.

 

Heraclius totally overhauled the administration of the Empire, making Greek its official language of government. The Arab invasions saw the permanent loss of many provinces, some of which had been Roman since republican days. The last classical cities such as Ephesus finally saw their theatres become empty and derelict and public baths became agricultural buildings.

 

As John Julius Norwich states (A Short History of Byzantium): Culturally, too, this marked the beginning of a new era. If Justinian had been the last of the truly Roman emperors, it was Heraclius who dealt the Roman tradition its death blow for it was he who decreed that Greek, long the language of the people and the Church, should henceforth be the official language of the Empire, simultaneously abolishing the ancient Roman titles of Imperial dignity. Like his predecessors he had been hailed as Imperator, Caesar and Augustus; all these were now replaced by the old Greek word for king, 'Basileus'.

Edited February 26, 2007 by Northern Neil

[Ludovicus]

Heraclius was the first emperor to abandon the Latin title "imperator" in favor of the Greek "basileus." This may make him a candidate for the first emperor of a "recognizable" Greek state. But wait! After he defeated the Persians the Senate gave him the title of "Scipio." Go figure.

Edited February 26, 2007 by Ludovicus

[Ursus]

So it was here that the Eastern Empire finally broke with its Roman past and morphed into its own political and cultural entity.

[Maladict]

So it was here that the Eastern Empire finally broke with its Roman past and morphed into its own political and cultural entity.

 

I think that's pushing it a bit. There isn't a single point in time, or even a single reign, during which it happened, if indeed it happened at all. Heraclius' empire was further removed from the Republic than from the Palaeologi at that time. But yes, it was still recognizably Roman, I'd choose Heraclius as well.

[Ludovicus]

Perhaps an important benchmark on the Eastern Empire's march to becoming a total Greek state, at least administratively, would be the loss of the large Latin-speaking provinces of Africa. I believe we're at the end of the reign of Heraclius at this point.

Edited February 26, 2007 by Ludovicus