{{Short description|Division of the Greco-Roman world and medieval Christendom}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2022}}

The terms "'''Greek East'''" and "'''Latin West'''" originally distinguished the [[Greco-Roman world]] between the [[Greek language|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 Roman Empire|Eastern Empire]] (or [[New Rome|Byzantine]]) and the [[Western Roman Empire|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 [[Christianity in Europe|Europe]], [[Christianity in Africa#Antiquity: Early Church|North Africa]], and [[Christianity in the Middle East|West Asia]].

[[File:Roman Empire 330 CE.png|thumb|right|350px|Map of the [[Roman Empire]] in AD 330, with [[Latin]]-dominated regions (the [[Western Mediterranean]] and adjacent territory) shown in red and [[Greek language|Greek]]-dominated regions (the [[Eastern Mediterranean]]) shown in blue.]]

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 (cultural)|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 accelerated by a variety of administrative changes between the 3rd and 7th centuries, the Greek–Latin divide was cemented due to the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|Western Empire's collapse in AD 476]], as well as due to the Eastern Empire's failed attempts to restore unity. By the [[Early Middle Ages]], the Christian world would experience a total break in communion between [[Western Christianity|Rome]] and [[Eastern Christianity|Constantinople]], on the basis of this divide, before witnessing the [[Fall of Constantinople|Eastern Empire's collapse in AD 1453]].

==Ancient period: Greco-Roman world==
{{Further|Greco-Roman relations in classical antiquity}}
In the [[classical antiquity|classical context]], "Greek East" refers to the provinces and client states of the [[Roman Empire]] in which the ''[[lingua franca]]'' was primarily [[Greek language|Greek]].{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}
This region included the whole Greek peninsula with some other northern parts in the [[Balkans]], the provinces around the [[Black Sea]], those of the [[Bosporus|Bosphorus]], all of [[Asia Minor]] (in the loosest possible sense, to include [[Cappadocia (Roman province)|Cappadocia]] and extending to [[Roman Armenia|Armenia Minor]]), [[Magna Graecia]] (southern part of the Italian peninsula and Sicily), and the other West Asian and North African provinces along the eastern rim of the [[Mediterranean Sea]] ([[Syria (Roman province)|Syria]], [[Syria Palaestina|Palaestina]], [[Egypt (Roman province)|Egypt]], and [[Cyrenaica]]). These Roman provinces had been [[Greek colonies]] or Greek-ruled states during the [[Hellenistic period]], i.e. until the Roman conquests.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

At the start of [[late antiquity]], beginning with the reorganization of the empire's provincial divisions during the reign of [[Diocletian]] (ruled 284–305), the concept of the ''Greek East'' developed to stand in contradistinction to the ''Latin West''. Thereafter, ''Greek East'' refers to the Greek-speaking above-mentioned provinces (after 395 AD, mostly in the Greek-speaking [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman Empire]]) in contradistinction to the provinces in Western Europe, [[Italia (Roman province)|Italia]] (excluding the [[Catepanate of Italy]], where they still spoke Greek) and the coastal [[Maghreb]] of Mediterranean North Africa (after 395 in the Latin-speaking [[Western Roman Empire]]).<ref>''Cf''. Fishwick, Duncan. ''The imperial cult in the Latin West: studies in the ruler cult of the Western provinces of the Roman Empire''. BRILL, 2002.</ref>{{failed verification|date=June 2022|reason=Fishwick never defines 'Greek East', nor dates its origins. p. 244 states '...a practice current in the Greek east since Hellenistic times...', suggesting there was already a 'Greek East' before Rome conquered it in the 2nd century BCE.}}

===Latin and Greek among Roman emperors===
Roman emperors who spoke Latin tended to learn Greek but not vice versa.<ref>{{cite web |title=What Language Did the Ancient Romans Speak? |url=https://www.thecollector.com/what-language-did-the-ancient-romans-speak/ |access-date=24 November 2024}}</ref> For example, [[Marcus Aurelius]] mastered Greek to such an extent that he wrote the ''[[Meditations]]'' (circa 170) in Greek. Similarly, [[Julian (emperor)|Julian]] would [[Julian (emperor)#Works|write in Greek]].

==Medieval period: Christian world==
{{Further|East–West Schism|Eastern Christianity|Western Christianity}}

"Greek East" and "Latin West" are terms used also to divide [[Chalcedonian Christianity]] into the [[Greek (language)|Greek]]-speaking [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] peoples of the Eastern [[Mediterranean Basin]], centered on the [[Byzantine Empire]], and the [[Latin]]-speaking [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] peoples of [[Western Europe]] and the [[Maghreb]].<ref>Sherrard, Philip. ''The Greek East and the Latin West: a study in the Christian tradition''. London: [[Oxford University Press]], 1959; reprinted Limni [Greece]: Denise Harvey & Company, 1992 {{ISBN|960-7120-04-3}}.</ref>{{sfn|Louth|2007|p=3}} Here, ''Latin West'' applies to regions that were formerly part of the Western Roman Empire, specifically [[Italia (Roman province)|Italia]], [[Gaul|Gallia]] (Gaul), [[Hispania]], [[Mauretania]], [[Dalmatia (Roman province)|Dalmatia]], and [[Roman Britain|Britannia]]. It also later-applied to areas that had never been part of the Empire but which later came under the culture sphere of the Latin West, such as [[Germania|Magna Germania]], [[Hibernia]] (Ireland), and [[Caledonia]] (Scotland). In this sense, the term "Latin" came to refer to the liturgical and scholarly language of the Western Roman Empire, as many of these regions did not, in fact, speak Latin.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

Modern scholars agree that by the 12th century, theological debate (or ''disputatio'') between Christians of the Greek East and Latin West was focused on three Christian doctrines: 'the so-called ''[[filioque]]'' controversy regarding the [[procession of the Holy Spirit]], leavened or [[unleavened bread]] in the [[Eucharist]], and the [[Papal primacy|primacy of the pope]].'{{sfn|Brubaker|2018|p=614}} However, it is not known when or how this began.

British philosopher [[Philip Sherrard]] (1959) claimed that the cause of [[Christendom]]'s split into a Greek East and a Latin West was differing conceptions of ''sacerdotium'' and ''regnum'', leading the Orthodox Patriarchate in Constantinople to never lay claim to secular power; rather, to submit to the Byzantine emperor and later the Ottoman sultan (supposedly the reason for the 'Eastern submission to autocracy'), while the Catholic Papacy persistently laid claim to have authority over the secular princes of the West (allegedly 'the roots of modern democracy').<ref name="Evans">{{cite journal |last1=Evans |first1=E. |date=1960 |title=The Greek East and the Latin West. A Study in the Christian Tradition. By Philip Sherrard. O.U.P., 1959. Pp.202. 25s |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/scottish-journal-of-theology/article/abs/greek-east-and-the-latin-west-a-study-in-the-christian-tradition-by-philip-sherrard-oup-1959-pp202-25s/47A4DCBD1854952AA1CCC5E1BDB85904 |journal=Scottish Journal of Theology |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=200–202 |doi=10.1017/S0036930600052662 |access-date=17 June 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> E. Evans (1960) panned Sherrard's book, writing: '...it must be said that unless the obscurity of the writer's language has dulled the reader's intelligence, neither the ''Filioque'' clause nor the developments of modern international politics are really shown to depend on the western as opposed to the eastern, the Latin as opposed to the Greek, doctrine of God and of creation: the argument, if there is one, is ''per saltum'', and need amount to no more than an ''a posteriori'' interpretation of historical facts in the light of preconceived ideas.'<ref name="Evans"/>

According to English theologian [[Andrew Louth]] (2007), the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine/Roman Empire]] and the [[early Church]] constituted a multilingual and 'multi-cultural civilization' until the 7th century. Following a period of transition, which he dated from 681 ([[Third Council of Constantinople]]) until 1071 ([[Battle of Manzikert]]), Christendom had split into a "Greek East" and "Latin West", which he considered 'two Christian civilizations' (in reference to [[Samuel P. Huntington|Huntington]]'s [[Clash of Civilizations]] thesis).{{sfn|Louth|2007|p=3}} Louth primarily attributed this purported 'transition from multi-cultural Byzantium to Greek East and Latin West [to] the rise of Islam and the destruction of the stability of the Mediterranean world in the seventh century.'{{sfn|Louth|2007|p=4}} Nevertheless, the transition was a slow and complicated process with many factors rather than a single historic event, which 'set the two halves of Christianity on their gradually diverging tracks', as Byzantine literature professor Alexander Alexakis (2010) summarised Louth's analysis.<ref name="Alexakis">{{cite journal |last1=Alexakis |first1=Alexander |date=2010 |title=Reviewed Work: Greek East and Latin West: The Church, AD 681–1071. (The Church in History, 3.) by Andrew Louth |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27866892 |journal=Speculum |volume=85 |issue=2 |pages=425–427 |doi= 10.1017/S0038713410000473|jstor=27866892 |access-date=17 June 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> These included observations that the Byzantine Church-State dualism remained intact after the Western Roman Empire's collapse, while bishops and eventually the Pope in the West sometimes wielded secular power. The [[Carolingian Renaissance|Carolingian monarchs' ''renovatio'']] also promoted theological thought at a time when the pope was embroiled in worldly affairs (8th–9th century), that the [[Byzantine Iconoclasm]] controversy caused 'the first rift between Rome and Constantinople', and that the simultaneous [[Christianization of the Slavs|missionary efforts to convert the Slavs]] led to a 'second point of contention between Rome and Constantinople,' especially [[Christianization of Bulgaria|in Bulgaria]] (9th–10th century).<ref name="Alexakis"/> Louth agreed with 'the prevailing (and more plausible) theory that assigns no particular importance to the events of 1054' (the [[East–West Schism]]) 'as far as the people of that era were concerned', and that the schism only became significant during the preliminaries to the 1245 and 1274 [[Councils of Lyon]].<ref name="Alexakis"/>

The term "Greek" varies in its application. In the most narrow sense, (after the rise of the Roman Empire) it is uniquely applied to the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.taverna-meteora.de/index.php/griechische-kueche|title=The Byzantine Empire|language=de-de|access-date=2018-08-18}}</ref> Depending on the author it may also be applied to:
* Areas within which the Greek language was the common scholarly and religious language during classical Roman times and the early Middle Ages (including Syria, Egypt, and Palestine) {{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}
* Areas that have historically been in communion with the (formerly Byzantine) [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] (including [[Russia]] and much of Eastern Europe and largely-excluding Eastern Christian communities using such languages such [[Syriac language|Syriac]], [[Coptic language|Coptic]], [[Geʽez]], and [[Armenian language|Armenian]] which opposed the influence of [[Constantinople]] having formed what are now called the [[Church of the East]] and [[Oriental Orthodox Churches]]. Modern Romanians speak a Romance language, and they follow the (formerly Byzantine) Eastern Church.
* Areas that were heavily culturally influenced by the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire, directly or indirectly, during the Middle Ages, including Eastern Europe, North Africa, and West Asia [[Caliphate|(Islamic Empires]]).{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}
** Note: among [[Muslim historians]], "Greek" and "Roman" are often categories specifically associated with [[Christians]]. Although the [[Sultanate of Rum|Sultanate of Rome]] and, later, the [[Ottoman Empire]] would adopt Roman titles and describe themselves as Rome's leaders, this was considered a geographic designation (much in the same way that the [[Ghaznavids]] or [[Sultanate of Delhi|Delhi Sultans]] would be known as rulers of "[[Hindustan]].") {{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

Because the Latin language survived as a scholarly and liturgical language ( despite the fragmentation and religious changes in Western Europe and [[Mauretania|Northwestern Africa]], the term "Latin" has survived much longer as a unifying term in the West. Conversely, use of the Greek language diminished in Western Asia and the Orthodox Slavic territories never fully embraced the language (despite their long religious affiliation with the Eastern Romans/Byzantines).{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

==See also==
* [[Ancient Greece]]
* [[Ancient Rome]]
* [[Greco-Roman world]]
** [[Jireček Line]]
** [[Tetrarchy]]
* [[Legacy of the Roman Empire]]
** [[Roman identity]]
** [[Christianization of the Roman Empire]]
*** [[Western Christianity]]
*** [[Eastern Christianity]]
** "[[Last Roman Emperor]]"
* [[Succession of the Roman Empire]]
** [[New Rome]]
** [[Problem of two emperors]]
* [[Succession to the Byzantine Empire|Succession of the Byzantine Empire]]
** "[[Third Rome]]"

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite journal |last=Brubaker |first=Jeff |date=2018 |title="You are the Heretics!" Dialogue and Disputation between the Greek East and the Latin West after 1204 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/me/24/5-6/article-p613_6.xml |journal=Medieval Encounters |volume=24 |issue=5–6 |pages=613–630 |doi=10.1163/15700674-12340033 |s2cid=166795372 |access-date=17 June 2022|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite book |last=Louth |first=Andrew |date=2007 |title=Greek East and Latin West: The Church AD 691–1071 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WlpPjOlVzQwC |location=Crestwood, New York |publisher=St Vladimir's Seminary Press |pages=382 |isbn=9780881413205 |access-date=17 June 2022}}

{{Western world}}

[[Category:Historical regions of Europe]]
[[Category:Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Cultural history of Greece]]
[[Category:Classical antiquity]]
[[Category:Christianity in late antiquity]]
[[Category:East–West Schism]]
[[Category:Cultural geography]]
[[Category:Mediterranean]]
[[Category:Geography of the Middle East]]
[[Category:Language geography]]
[[Category:Western culture]]
[[Category:East–West dichotomy]]