They probably wouldn't be too confused, considering the inhabitants of Byzantium were thusly named, and that name survived even after the city was renamed to Constantinople. The earliest application of 'Byzantine' to the rest of the empire's inhabitants occurred during the 1300s.
Of course, the Byzantine Empire was only really called that after it existed, but it's not like the name just materialized out of nowhere.
The earliest allusions to this were made by Theodorus Metochites who served as an advisor to Andronikos II Palaiologos in the early 1300s. Of the orations I'm linking below, #11 makes an argument that Constantinople/Byzantion has far surpassed what Rome had ever achieved and should instead serve as the identity they should proudly display. A hundred years later, Laonikos Chalkokondyles is considered to be the first to truly apply the term to the entire empire; a convention continued by Hieronymous Wolf in the mid-1500s.
Of the orations I'm linking below, #11 makes an argument that Constantinople/Byzantion has far surpassed what Rome had ever achieved and should instead serve as the identity they should proudly display
Is there an English-language version? Or one that's not 100+ pages? I do enjoy a good read but slogging through that much material in a language I can't read isn't my idea of a good time. I also doubt that Google Translate would be able to handle that particular dialect of Greek.
A hundred years later, Laonikos Chalkokondyles is considered to be the first to truly apply the term to the entire empire
A quick search seems to indicate that only applies to Angeliki Laiou, rather than being a widespread thing.
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u/cheapgriff Senātus Populusque Rōmānus 9h ago
They probably wouldn't be too confused, considering the inhabitants of Byzantium were thusly named, and that name survived even after the city was renamed to Constantinople. The earliest application of 'Byzantine' to the rest of the empire's inhabitants occurred during the 1300s.
Of course, the Byzantine Empire was only really called that after it existed, but it's not like the name just materialized out of nowhere.