Source
The blogger of the source talks about Maximus Confessor who lived in the 7th century, who was tried by Byzantine authorities. At a moment he was asked by a Byzantine official, why he hated the Greek (not Hellenic as Greeks call themselves now) authorities and loved the Romans, meaning the Pope. The blogger states various reasons, why he thinks something is wrong with this statement.
Anyway the simple answer is a Byzantine would never call himself Greek, Hellene or Byzantine. They called themselves Romans and during the time of the Ottomans, the word became Romioi (ioi read as a long e). The Catholic priests were called Latins and after Karl the Great Saxonslaughterer Franks. The West called the Byzantines Greeks.
Well the incident was written by a papal librarian, so he had to invert the names. The Greek text is just a translation of the Latin one.
The blogger of the source talks about Maximus Confessor who lived in the 7th century, who was tried by Byzantine authorities. At a moment he was asked by a Byzantine official, why he hated the Greek (not Hellenic as Greeks call themselves now) authorities and loved the Romans, meaning the Pope. The blogger states various reasons, why he thinks something is wrong with this statement.
Anyway the simple answer is a Byzantine would never call himself Greek, Hellene or Byzantine. They called themselves Romans and during the time of the Ottomans, the word became Romioi (ioi read as a long e). The Catholic priests were called Latins and after Karl the Great Saxonslaughterer Franks. The West called the Byzantines Greeks.
Well the incident was written by a papal librarian, so he had to invert the names. The Greek text is just a translation of the Latin one.
