Rhomaioi

   Greek term meaning "Romans," which is how the Byzantine state referred to its citizens. The imperial title Basileus (q.v.) ton Romaion ("Emperor of the Romans") was jealously guarded from the time of Charlemagne (q.v.) onward. "Rum" is how Muslim writers referred to the empire, and, thus, the sultanate of Rum (qq.v.) was what the Seljuks (q.v.) called their conquests in Asia Minor (q.v.). After 1265, as Byzantium (q.v.) contracted to something approaching the confines of ancient Greece (q.v.) and as Palaiologan (q.v.) scholars became seriously interested in ancient Greek civilization, the term hellenes ("Greeks") was also used to designate the inhabitants of Byzantium.