Greek East and Latin West

Common card · No. 275960

The terms "Greek East" and "Latin West" originally distinguished the Greco-Roman world between the Greek-dominated Eastern Mediterranean and the Latin-dominated Western Mediterranean. These diverging identities effectively bisected the Roman Empire into cultural and linguistic halves—the Eastern Empire (or Byzantine) and the Western Empire—and later defined the dynamic of medieval Christianity in relation to the East–West Schism, which, after 1054 AD, affected Christendom throughout much of Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. As a result of centuries-long Hellenization, especially during the Hellenistic period, the Greek language was widespread across the Eastern Mediterranean as a lingua franca; whereas Latin had enjoyed official status and privilege since the beginnings of the Roman state, although the effect of Romanization was considerably less prominent in the region. Latin's usage ultimately declined vis-à-vis Greek, with which it had co-existed and gradually equalized. Having been...

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