Language influence border between Latin and Hellenic

The Jireček Line is a conceptual boundary through the ancient

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

that divides the influence of the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

(in the north) and

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

(in the south) languages in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

from antiquity to the 4th century. The border has been corrected repeatedly by the discovery of new inscriptions. A possible rough outline of it goes from near Lissus (near

Lezhë Lezhë (, sq-definite, Lezha) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in the Republic of Albania and seat of Lezhë County and Lezhë Municipality. It is one of Albania's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously i ...

and

Laç Laç (; sq-definite, Laçi) is a town and a former Municipalities of Albania, municipality in Lezhë County, northwestern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision and the seat of the municipality Kurbin. It was the ad ...

in modern

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

) to Serdica (now

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

) and then follows the

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs f ...

to Odessus ( Varna) on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

or continuing along the coastline northwards to the Danube Delta.

History

This line is important for establishing the area where the Romanian, Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian and

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

people formed (see ''

Origin of the Romanians Several theories, in great extent mutually exclusive, address the issue of the origin of the Romanians. The Romanian language descends from the Vulgar Latin dialects spoken in the Roman provinces north of the "Jireček Line" (a proposed notion ...

'' and ''

Origin of the Albanians The origin of the Albanians has been the subject of historical, linguistic, archaeological and genetic studies. The first mention of the ethnonym '' Albanoi'' occurred in the 2nd century AD by Ptolemy describing an Illyrian tribe who lived around ...

''). It was used originally by Czech historian

Konstantin Jireček Konstantin Josef Jireček (24 July 1854 10 January 1918) was an Austro-Hungarian Czech historian, politician, diplomat, and Slavist. He was the founder of Bohemian Balkanology (or Balkan Studies) and Byzantine studies, and wrote extensively on ...

in 1911 in a history of the Slavic people. The placement of the line is based on archaeological findings. Most of the inscriptions found to the north of it are written in Latin, and most of the inscriptions found to the south of it are in Greek.

Purpose

The boundary, in its various forms, is theoretical. Already during antiquity there were significant exceptions since there were hellenized groups north of the line like the

Greek colonies Greek colonisation refers to the expansion of Archaic Greeks, particularly during the 8th–6th centuries BC, across the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. The Archaic expansion differed from the Iron Age migrations of the Greek Dark Ages ...

along the western coastline of the Black Sea, and latinized groups may have lived south of the line. Even so, it is a useful but approximate instrument to determine the influence to which a certain area was predominantly exposed. More recent scholars have revised it somewhat. Kaimio (1979) assigns

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

and

Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...

Superior to the Latin area and Moesia Inferior in the Greek sphere. MacLeod (1982) suggests that there may not have been "an official language policy for each and every aspect of life", but that "individual Roman officials adecommon sense ad hoc decisions". He also states that during the pre-Byzantine

Roman period The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, "even in Greek areas... Latin was the dominant language in inscriptions recording public works, on

milestones A milestone is a marker of distance along roads. Milestone may also refer to: Measurements *Milestone (project management), metaphorically, markers of reaching an identifiable stage in any task or the project *Software release life cycle state, s ...

and in the army".

References

* Jireček, Konstantin, ''Geschichte der Serben'' ' ''The history of the Serbs'' ', Gotha, 1911. * Kaimio, Jorma, ''The Romans and the Greek Language'', ''Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum'' 64. Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 1979. (not seen) * MacLeod, M.D., ''review of'' Kaimio, 1979 in ''The Classical Review'', New Ser., 32:2:216-218, 1982
JSTOR
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jirecek Line Cultural boundaries Romanization of Southeastern Europe Moesia Ancient history of the Balkans Isoglosses 1911 introductions 1911 in Austria-Hungary Latin language in ancient Rome Koine Greek

History

Purpose

See also

References