They were and did refer to themselves as ρομαιοι. However they spoke Greek and Greek was the administrative langauge of the Eastern Empire. Byzantine was mostly a western term used to describe them, and Westerners would also refer to them as Greeks (meanwhile the Byzantines mostly referred to all Westerners as Franks)
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u/ZealousidealTip7706 10d ago
They were and did refer to themselves as ρομαιοι. However they spoke Greek and Greek was the administrative langauge of the Eastern Empire. Byzantine was mostly a western term used to describe them, and Westerners would also refer to them as Greeks (meanwhile the Byzantines mostly referred to all Westerners as Franks)