The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople ( Greek : Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης , romanized : Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs ) is the archbishop of Constantinople and primus inter pares (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox Church . The ecumenical patriarch is regarded as the representative and spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide. The term ecumenical in the title is a historical reference to the Ecumene , a Greek designation for the civilised world, i.e. the Roman Empire , and it stems from Canon 28 of the Council of Chalcedon .
101-531: Anastasius I Dicorus ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Ἀναστάσιος , translit. Anastásios ; c. 431 – 9 July 518) was Eastern Roman emperor from 491 to 518. A career civil servant, he came to the throne at the age of 61 after being chosen by Ariadne , the wife of his predecessor, Zeno . His reign was characterized by reforms and improvements in the empire's government, finances, economy and bureaucracy. The resulting stable government, reinvigorated monetary economy and sizeable budget surplus allowed
202-577: A Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the world's oldest recorded living language . Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now-extinct Anatolian languages . The Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods: In the modern era, the Greek language entered
303-577: A basis for coinages: anthropology , photography , telephony , isomer , biomechanics , cinematography , etc. Together with Latin words , they form the foundation of international scientific and technical vocabulary ; for example, all words ending in -logy ('discourse'). There are many English words of Greek origin . Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European language family. The ancient language most closely related to it may be ancient Macedonian , which, by most accounts,
404-713: A continuous history since the founding of the city in AD 330 by Constantine the Great . After Constantine the Great had enlarged Byzantium to make it into a second capital city in 330, it was thought appropriate that its bishop, once a suffragan of the Exarch of Thrace and Macedonia, the Metropolitan of Heraclea , should be elevated to an archbishopric. For many decades the heads of the church of Rome opposed this ambition, due to their existing papal claims, and because they defended
505-605: A delegate—over any council of Orthodox primates or bishops in which he takes part and serves as primary spokesman for the Orthodox communion especially in ecumenical contacts with other Christian denominations. He has no direct jurisdiction over the other patriarchs or the other autocephalous Orthodox churches, but he, alone among his fellow primates, enjoys the right of convening extraordinary synods consisting of them or their delegates to deal with ad hoc situations and has also convened well-attended pan-Orthodox synods in
606-508: A faster, more convenient cursive writing style with the use of ink and quill . The Greek alphabet consists of 24 letters, each with an uppercase ( majuscule ) and lowercase ( minuscule ) form. The letter sigma has an additional lowercase form (ς) used in the final position of a word: In addition to the letters, the Greek alphabet features a number of diacritical signs : three different accent marks ( acute , grave , and circumflex ), originally denoting different shapes of pitch accent on
707-464: A generous sum of money with which to purchase their own. These changes to imperial policy seem to have worked well; taxpayers often paid smaller tax bills than they had before, while government revenue increased. The increase in revenue allowed the emperor to pay soldiers a higher wage, which attracted native Roman soldiers to the military, as opposed to the barbarian and Isaurian mercenaries which some previous emperors had been forced to rely on. Anastasius
808-590: A lesser extent, in the Western Mediterranean in and around colonies such as Massalia , Monoikos , and Mainake . It was also used as the official language of government and religion in the Christian Nubian kingdoms , for most of their history. Greek, in its modern form, is the official language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population. It is also the official language of Cyprus (nominally alongside Turkish ) and
909-400: A limited but productive system of compounding and a rich inflectional system. Although its morphological categories have been fairly stable over time, morphological changes are present throughout, particularly in the nominal and verbal systems. The major change in the nominal morphology since the classical stage was the disuse of the dative case (its functions being largely taken over by
1010-455: A message under one of three couches and had his nephews take seats in the room. He believed that the nephew who sat on the couch with the message would be his heir. However, two of his nephews sat on the same couch, and the one with the concealed message remained empty. After putting the matter to God in prayer, he determined that the first person to enter his room the next morning would be the next emperor, and that person turned out to be Justin ,
1111-459: A mixed syllable structure, permitting complex syllabic onsets but very restricted codas. It has only oral vowels and a fairly stable set of consonantal contrasts . The main phonological changes occurred during the Hellenistic and Roman period (see Koine Greek phonology for details): In all its stages, the morphology of Greek shows an extensive set of productive derivational affixes ,
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#17327718532731212-685: A permanent bureau at the EU headquarters, in addition to enhancing the long-established Patriarchal Centre in Pregny-Chambésy , Switzerland, and also his ecological pursuits which have won him the epithet of "the Green Patriarch". When the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453, the patriarchate ceased to function. The Patriarchate was restored by the conquering ruler, Sultan Mehmed II , who wished to establish his dynasty as
1313-516: A saint by the Syriac Orthodox Church on 29 July. Anastasius was born at Dyrrachium ; the date is unknown, but is thought to have been no later than 431. He was born into an Illyro-Roman family. Anastasius had one black eye and one blue eye ( heterochromia ), and for that reason he was nicknamed Dicorus ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Δίκορος , translit. Díkoros , "two- pupiled "). Before becoming emperor, Anastasius
1414-644: A second capital alongside Rome and named it Constantinople . The see's ecclesiastical status as the second of five patriarchates were developed by the Ecumenical Councils of Constantinople in 381 and Chalcedon in 451 . The Turkish government recognizes him as the spiritual leader of the Greek minority in Turkey, and refer to him as the Roman (literally Rûm ) Orthodox patriarch of Fener ( Turkish : Fener Rum Ortodoks Patriği ). The patriarch
1515-460: A state of diglossia : the coexistence of vernacular and archaizing written forms of the language. What came to be known as the Greek language question was a polarization between two competing varieties of Modern Greek: Dimotiki , the vernacular form of Modern Greek proper, and Katharevousa , meaning 'purified', a compromise between Dimotiki and Ancient Greek developed in the early 19th century that
1616-530: A synodical system canonically , it is significantly distinguished from the hierarchically organized Catholic Church , whose doctrine is papal supremacy and whose head is the pope . His titles primus inter pares . 'first among equals', and "ecumenical patriarch" are of honor rather than authority, and in fact the ecumenical patriarch has no real authority over churches other than the Constantinopolitan. The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople
1717-811: Is also sometimes called the Greek Patriarchate of Constantinople to distinguish it from the Armenian Patriarchate and the extinct Latin Patriarchate , which was created after the Latin capture of Constantinople in 1204, during the Fourth Crusade . The see of Byzantium, whose foundation was later ascribed to Andrew the Apostle, was originally a common bishopric. It gained importance when Emperor Constantine elevated Byzantium to
1818-403: Is depicted on the obverse of North Macedonia's 50 denar banknote, issued in 1996. Greek language Greek ( Modern Greek : Ελληνικά , romanized : Elliniká , [eliniˈka] ; Ancient Greek : Ἑλληνική , romanized : Hellēnikḗ ) is an Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It
1919-401: Is home to 20 monasteries and numerous other monastic communities. The ecumenical patriarch has a unique role among Eastern Orthodox bishops, though it is not without its controversy. He is primus inter pares ("first among equals"), as he is senior among all Orthodox bishops. This primacy, expressed in canonical literature as presbeia ("prerogatives", literally: "seniorities"), grants to
2020-683: Is native to Greece , Cyprus , Italy (in Calabria and Salento ), southern Albania , and other regions of the Balkans , Caucasus , the Black Sea coast, Asia Minor , and the Eastern Mediterranean . It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system is the Greek alphabet , which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek
2121-399: Is often cited for his "prudent management" of the empire's finances. Amidst these reforms, though, Anastasius continued the practice of selling official positions. He sold so many that he has been accused of having facilitated the creation of a civilian aristocracy. This claim is strengthened by the growth in influence of families that often held high level positions in the government, such as
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#17327718532732222-477: Is one of promoting and sustaining Church unity. This unique role often sees the ecumenical patriarch referred to as the "spiritual leader" of the Orthodox Church in some sources, though this is not an official title of the patriarch nor is it usually used in scholarly sources on the patriarchate. Such a title is acceptable if it refers to this unique role, but it sometimes leads to the mistaken belief that
2323-845: Is sometimes called aljamiado , as when Romance languages are written in the Arabic alphabet. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Greek: Transcription of the example text into Latin alphabet : Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English: Proto-Greek Mycenaean Ancient Koine Medieval Modern Patriarch of Constantinople The patriarch's see ,
2424-763: Is still used internationally for the writing of Ancient Greek . In Greek, the question mark is written as the English semicolon, while the functions of the colon and semicolon are performed by a raised point (•), known as the ano teleia ( άνω τελεία ). In Greek the comma also functions as a silent letter in a handful of Greek words, principally distinguishing ό,τι ( ó,ti , 'whatever') from ότι ( óti , 'that'). Ancient Greek texts often used scriptio continua ('continuous writing'), which means that ancient authors and scribes would write word after word with no spaces or punctuation between words to differentiate or mark boundaries. Boustrophedon , or bi-directional text,
2525-602: Is the direct administrative superior of dioceses and archdioceses serving millions of Greek, Ukrainian, Rusyn and Albanian believers in North and South America, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand, South Korea, as well as parts of modern Greece which, for historical reasons, do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Church of Greece . His actual position is patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople , one of
2626-632: Is to modern spoken English ". Greek is spoken today by at least 13 million people, principally in Greece and Cyprus along with a sizable Greek-speaking minority in Albania near the Greek-Albanian border. A significant percentage of Albania's population has knowledge of the Greek language due in part to the Albanian wave of immigration to Greece in the 1980s and '90s and the Greek community in
2727-694: The Anastasian Wall , extending from the Propontis to the Black Sea . He converted his birthplace, Dyrrachium, into one of the most fortified cities on the Adriatic with the construction of Durrës Castle . Anastasius was a convinced Miaphysite , but his ecclesiastical policy was moderate. He endeavoured to maintain the principle of the Henotikon of Zeno and the peace of the church. Yet, in 512, perhaps emboldened after his military success against
2828-758: The Anastasian War against Sassanid Persia. The Isaurian War (492–497) was stirred up by the Isaurian supporters of Longinus, the brother of Zeno, who was passed over for the throne in favour of Anastasius. The Battle of Cotyaeum in 492 broke the back of the revolt, but guerrilla warfare continued in the Isaurian Mountains for several years. The resistance in the mountains hinged upon the Isaurians' retention of Papirius Castle. The war lasted five years, but Anastasius passed legislation related to
2929-473: The Apiones from Egypt. This has puzzled historians, given that the emperor seems to have minimised government corruption/inefficiency in other areas. Anastasius I also gave official positions to his close friend General Celer , his brother-in-law, his brother, his nephews, and his grand-nephews. The complex monetary system of the early Byzantine Empire, which suffered a partial collapse in the mid-5th century,
3030-562: The British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (alongside English ). Because of the membership of Greece and Cyprus in the European Union, Greek is one of the organization's 24 official languages . Greek is recognized as a minority language in Albania, and used co-officially in some of its municipalities, in the districts of Gjirokastër and Sarandë . It is also an official minority language in
3131-612: The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is one of the most enduring institutions in the world and has had a prominent part in world history. The ecumenical patriarchs in ancient times helped in the spread of Christianity and the resolution of various doctrinal disputes. In the Middle Ages , they played a major role in the affairs of the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as in the politics of
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3232-606: The European canon . Greek is also the language in which many of the foundational texts in science and philosophy were originally composed. The New Testament of the Christian Bible was also originally written in Greek. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world , the Greek texts and Greek societies of antiquity constitute the objects of study of the discipline of Classics . During antiquity , Greek
3333-516: The Indo-Iranian languages (see Graeco-Aryan ), but little definitive evidence has been found. In addition, Albanian has also been considered somewhat related to Greek and Armenian, and it has been proposed that they all form a higher-order subgroup along with other extinct languages of the ancient Balkans; this higher-order subgroup is usually termed Palaeo-Balkan , and Greek has a central position in it. Linear B , attested as early as
3434-542: The Millet of Rum , which included all Orthodox Christians under Ottoman rule, regardless of their ethnicity in the modern sense. This role was carried out by ethnic Greeks at their great peril, in the midst of enormous difficulties and traps and inevitably with mixed success. Several patriarchs were summarily executed by the Ottoman authorities, most notably Gregory V , who was lynched on Easter Monday 1821 in revenge for
3535-769: The River Oxus . Four solidi from his reign have been recovered as far from the Roman Empire as China. China might seem an unlikely trading partner, but the Romans and the Chinese were probably able to do business via Central Asian merchants travelling along the Silk Roads . Some Roman trading partners attempted to replicate the coins of Anastasius. The currency created by Anastasius stayed in use and circulated widely for long after his reign. A 40- nummi coin of Anastasius
3636-652: The United Kingdom , and throughout the European Union , especially in Germany . Historically, significant Greek-speaking communities and regions were found throughout the Eastern Mediterranean , in what are today Southern Italy , Turkey , Cyprus , Syria , Lebanon , Israel , Palestine , Egypt , and Libya ; in the area of the Black Sea , in what are today Turkey, Bulgaria , Romania , Ukraine , Russia , Georgia , Armenia , and Azerbaijan ; and, to
3737-468: The genitive ). The verbal system has lost the infinitive , the synthetically -formed future, and perfect tenses and the optative mood . Many have been replaced by periphrastic ( analytical ) forms. Pronouns show distinctions in person (1st, 2nd, and 3rd), number (singular, dual , and plural in the ancient language; singular and plural alone in later stages), and gender (masculine, feminine, and neuter), and decline for case (from six cases in
3838-417: The syntax of Greek have remained constant: verbs agree with their subject only, the use of the surviving cases is largely intact (nominative for subjects and predicates, accusative for objects of most verbs and many prepositions, genitive for possessors), articles precede nouns, adpositions are largely prepositional, relative clauses follow the noun they modify and relative pronouns are clause-initial. However,
3939-537: The 'Petrine principle' by which all Patriarchates were derived from Saint Peter and were unwilling to violate the old order of the hierarchy for political reasons. In 381, the First Council of Constantinople declared that "The Bishop of Constantinople shall have the primacy of honour after the Bishop of Rome, because it is New Rome" (canon iii). The prestige of the office continued to grow not only because of
4040-566: The 20th century on), especially from French and English, are typically not inflected; other modern borrowings are derived from Albanian , South Slavic ( Macedonian / Bulgarian ) and Eastern Romance languages ( Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian ). Greek words have been widely borrowed into other languages, including English. Example words include: mathematics , physics , astronomy , democracy , philosophy , athletics , theatre, rhetoric , baptism , evangelist , etc. Moreover, Greek words and word elements continue to be productive as
4141-514: The Apostle . The current holder of the office is Bartholomew I , the 270th bishop of that see. Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure : Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches: Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church: Semi-Autonomous: The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople is first among equals , or first in honor among all Eastern Orthodox bishops, who presides in person—or through
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4242-687: The Army of Thrace and began communicating with the Pope on a potential end to the Acacian schism . Two years later, General Marinus attacked Vitalian and forced him and his troops to the northern part of Thrace. After the conclusion of the conflict, Anastasius had undisputed control of the empire until his death in 518. The Anonymous Valesianus gives a (most likely fictional) account of Anastasius attempting to predict his successor. Anastasius did not know which of his three nephews would succeed him and so he put
4343-565: The Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church . Historically, the ecumenical patriarch has heard such appeals and sometimes was invited to intervene in other churches' disputes and difficulties. Even as early as the fourth century, Constantinople was instrumental in the deposition of multiple bishops outside its traditional jurisdiction. This still occurs today, as when in 2006 the patriarchate
4444-686: The Empire an Orthodox emperor!" Under such pressure, Ariadne , Zeno's widow, turned to Anastasius. Anastasius was in his sixties at the time of his ascension to the throne. It is noteworthy that Ariadne chose Anastasius over Zeno's brother Longinus , who was arguably the more logical choice; this upset the Isaurians. It was also not appreciated by the circus factions, the Blues and the Greens . These groups combined aspects of street gangs and political parties and had been patronised by Longinus. After Anastasius took
4545-544: The Greek alphabet since approximately the 9th century BC. It was created by modifying the Phoenician alphabet , with the innovation of adopting certain letters to represent the vowels. The variant of the alphabet in use today is essentially the late Ionic variant, introduced for writing classical Attic in 403 BC. In classical Greek, as in classical Latin, only upper-case letters existed. The lower-case Greek letters were developed much later by medieval scribes to permit
4646-549: The Greek language was the Cypriot syllabary (also a descendant of Linear A via the intermediate Cypro-Minoan syllabary ), which is closely related to Linear B but uses somewhat different syllabic conventions to represent phoneme sequences. The Cypriot syllabary is attested in Cyprus from the 11th century BC until its gradual abandonment in the late Classical period, in favor of the standard Greek alphabet. Greek has been written in
4747-460: The Imperial treasury with 23,000,000 solidi , which is 320,000 pounds of gold or 420 long tons (430 t). The illiterate peasant-born Justin then became the next emperor. Meanwhile, his nephew and future heir Justinian engrossed himself in the life of Constantinople. Anastasius is famous for showing an uncommon interest in administrative efficiency and issues concerning the economy. Whenever it
4848-651: The Orthodox world, and in spreading Christianity among the Slavs . Currently, in addition to the expansion of the Christian faith and the Eastern Orthodox doctrine , the patriarchs are involved in ecumenism and interfaith dialogue , charitable work, and the defense of Orthodox Christian traditions. Within the five apostolic sees of the Pentarchy , the ecumenical patriarch is regarded as the successor of Andrew
4949-713: The Patriarchate, are also cited by human rights groups. However, in 2004 Patriarch Bartholomew, with the help of the Turkish government, succeeded, after eighty years, in altering the composition of the twelve-member Standing Synod of Metropolitan Bishops in Constantinople so that it can include six bishops from outside Turkey. He has also been convening biennially in Constantinople convocations of all bishops in his jurisdiction. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has suffered attacks from 1993 to 2004, including desecration of patriarchal cemeteries as well as assaults on
5050-642: The Persians, Anastasius deposed the Metropolitan of Chalcedon and replaced him with a Monophysite. That violated his agreement with the Patriarch of Constantinople and precipitated riots in Chalcedon. The following year, the general Vitalian started a rebellion, quickly defeated an imperial army and marched on Constantinople. With the army closing in, Anastasius gave Vitalian the title of Commander of
5151-645: The Phanar" or "Roman Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople" ( Turkish : Fener Rum Ortodoks Patriği ; Phanar is the neighbourhood in Istanbul where the patriarchate is located). According to Turkish law, still in force today, he is subject to the authority of the Republic of Turkey; however, Turkey allows the Standing Synod of Metropolitan Bishops to elect the patriarch. To be electable, Turkish law requires
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#17327718532735252-459: The Romans later received Amida in exchange for gold. The Persian provinces also suffered severely, and a peace was concluded in 506. Anastasius afterward built the strong fortress of Daras , which was named Anastasiopolis, to hold the Persians at Nisibis in check. The Balkan provinces were denuded of troops, however, and were devastated by invasions of Slavs and Bulgars . To protect Constantinople and its vicinity against them, Anastasius built
5353-470: The United Kingdom in a dispute with his superior in Moscow, though the result of that appeal – and the right to make it – were both rejected by the latter. The ecumenical patriarch has no direct jurisdiction outside the Patriarchate of Constantinople granted to him in Orthodox canonical literature, but his primary function regarding the whole Orthodox Church is one of dealing with relations between autocephalous and autonomous churches. That is, his primary role
5454-400: The absence of his legates . In the sixth century, the official title became that of "archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome, and ecumenical patriarch". The current patriarch (since 1991) is Bartholomew I who has become better-known than any of his predecessors in modern times as a result of his numerous pastoral and other visits to numerous countries in five continents and his setting up of
5555-404: The acute during the late 20th century, and it has only been retained in typography . After the writing reform of 1982, most diacritics are no longer used. Since then, Greek has been written mostly in the simplified monotonic orthography (or monotonic system), which employs only the acute accent and the diaeresis. The traditional system, now called the polytonic orthography (or polytonic system),
5656-416: The archdioceses in North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania where growing Greek and other migrant communities have gradually constituted a significant orthodox diaspora. After the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey on 29 October 1923, the Turkish state only recognises the patriarch as the spiritual leader of the Greek minority in Turkey , and officially refers to him as the "Greek Orthodox Patriarch of
5757-423: The arrival of Proto-Greeks, some documented in Mycenaean texts ; they include a large number of Greek toponyms . The form and meaning of many words have changed. Loanwords (words of foreign origin) have entered the language, mainly from Latin, Venetian , and Turkish . During the older periods of Greek, loanwords into Greek acquired Greek inflections, thus leaving only a foreign root word. Modern borrowings (from
5858-442: The candidates to be Turkish citizens. Since the establishment of modern Turkey, the position of the ecumenical patriarch has been filled by Turkish-born citizens of Greek ethnicity. As nearly all Greek Orthodox have left Turkey (see Population exchange between Greece and Turkey and Istanbul Pogrom ), this considerably narrows the field of candidates for succession. Human rights groups have long protested against conditions placed by
5959-459: The chief of his guards. Anastasius died childless in Constantinople on 9 July 518. He was 90 and a half years old according to the later chronicles of John Malalas ( c. 491–578) and the Chronicon Paschale ( c. 630). The early 6th-century historian Victor of Tunnuna states that he died at the age of 88, a figure accepted by most modern historians. He became the last emperor known to be consecrated as divus on his death. Anastasius left
6060-495: The country. Prior to the Greco-Turkish War and the resulting population exchange in 1923 a very large population of Greek-speakers also existed in Turkey , though very few remain today. A small Greek-speaking community is also found in Bulgaria near the Greek-Bulgarian border. Greek is also spoken worldwide by the sizable Greek diaspora which has notable communities in the United States , Australia , Canada , South Africa , Chile , Brazil , Argentina , Russia , Ukraine ,
6161-441: The dative led to a rise of prepositional indirect objects (and the use of the genitive to directly mark these as well). Ancient Greek tended to be verb-final, but neutral word order in the modern language is VSO or SVO. Modern Greek inherits most of its vocabulary from Ancient Greek, which in turn is an Indo-European language, but also includes a number of borrowings from the languages of the populations that inhabited Greece before
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#17327718532736262-435: The direct heirs of the Eastern Roman emperors, and who adopted the imperial title Kayser-i-Rûm "caesar of the Romans", one of his subsidiary titles but a significant one. In 1454 he bestowed the office upon an illustrious Byzantine scholar-monk who was well known for his opposition to union with the Latin West, Gennadius Scholarius , who became Patriarch Gennadius II. The patriarch was designated millet-başı ( ethnarch ) of
6363-528: The earliest forms attested to four in the modern language). Nouns, articles, and adjectives show all the distinctions except for a person. Both attributive and predicative adjectives agree with the noun. The inflectional categories of the Greek verb have likewise remained largely the same over the course of the language's history but with significant changes in the number of distinctions within each category and their morphological expression. Greek verbs have synthetic inflectional forms for: Many aspects of
6464-429: The economy in the mid-490s, which suggests that the war did not absorb all of the energy and resources of the government. After five years, the Isaurian resistance was broken. Large numbers of Isaurians were forcibly relocated to Thrace to ensure that they would not revolt again. During the Anastasian War of 502–505 against the Sassanid Persians , the Sassanids captured the cities of Theodosiopolis and Amida , although
6565-407: The ecumenical patriarch the right to preside at pan-Orthodox synods . Additionally, the canonical literature of the Orthodox Church grants to the ecumenical patriarch the right to hear appeals in cases of dispute between bishops. However, whether these canonical rights are limited only to his own patriarchate or are universal throughout the Orthodox Church is the subject of debate, especially between
6666-412: The ecumenical patriarch, the only bishop who has jurisdiction over them. Athos, officially the "Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain” ( Ancient Greek : Αυτόνομη Μοναστικὴ Πολιτεία Ἁγίου Ὄρους ), is a self-governed polity within the Greek state subject to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its political aspect and to the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople as regards to its religious aspect and
6767-414: The empire to pursue more ambitious policies under his successors, most notably Justinian I . Since many of Anastasius' reforms proved long-lasting, his influence over the empire endured for centuries. Anastasius was a Miaphysite Christian and his personal religious tendencies caused tensions throughout his reign in the empire that was becoming increasingly divided along religious lines. He is venerated as
6868-412: The extent that one can speak of a new language emerging. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language. It is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, " Homeric Greek is probably closer to Demotic than 12-century Middle English
6969-403: The fourteen autocephalous and several autonomous churches and the most senior (though not oldest) of the four orthodox ancient primatial sees among the five patriarchal Christian centers comprising the ancient Pentarchy of the undivided Church. In his role as head of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople, he is known as the "archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome ". The Ecumenical Patriarchate
7070-420: The function of the patriarchate, since clergy coming from abroad are not eligible to apply for residence and work permits. In its early days the Turkish state promoted a rival Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate , whose congregation, however, has remained limited. Expropriation of Church property and the conditions of state control imposed on the Orthodox Theological School of Halki that have led to its closure by
7171-423: The hated tax on receipts, which was mostly paid by the poor. He displayed great vigour and energy in administering the affairs of the empire. His reforms improved the empire's tax base and pulled it from financial depression and bleak morale. By the end of his reign, it is claimed that the treasury had 320,000 lb gold reserve. Under Anastasius, the empire engaged in the Isaurian War against the usurper Longinus and
7272-449: The language show both conservative and innovative tendencies across the entire attestation of the language from the ancient to the modern period. The division into conventional periods is, as with all such periodizations, relatively arbitrary, especially because, in all periods, Ancient Greek has enjoyed high prestige, and the literate borrowed heavily from it. Across its history, the syllabic structure of Greek has varied little: Greek shows
7373-413: The last 40 years. His unique role often sees the ecumenical patriarch referred to as the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Church in some sources, though this is not an official title of the patriarch nor is it usually used in scholarly sources on the patriarchate. The Orthodox Church is entirely decentralized: it has no central authority, earthly head, or single bishop in a leadership role. Because it has
7474-467: The late 15th century BC, was the first script used to write Greek. It is basically a syllabary , which was finally deciphered by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick in the 1950s (its precursor, Linear A , has not been deciphered and most likely encodes a non-Greek language). The language of the Linear B texts, Mycenaean Greek , is the earliest known form of Greek. Another similar system used to write
7575-452: The many other countries of the Greek diaspora . Greek roots have been widely used for centuries and continue to be widely used to coin new words in other languages; Greek and Latin are the predominant sources of international scientific vocabulary . Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, or possibly earlier. The earliest written evidence is
7676-465: The morphological changes also have their counterparts in the syntax, and there are also significant differences between the syntax of the ancient and that of the modern form of the language . Ancient Greek made great use of participial constructions and of constructions involving the infinitive, and the modern variety lacks the infinitive entirely (employing a raft of new periphrastic constructions instead) and uses participles more restrictively. The loss of
7777-561: The obvious patronage of the Byzantine Emperor but because of its overwhelming geographical importance. The Council of Chalcedon in 451 established Constantinople as a patriarchate with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Asia Minor (the dioceses of Asiane and Pontus) and Thrace as well as over the barbaric territories, non-converted lands outside the defined area of the Western Patriarchate (Old Rome) and
7878-503: The office is thus the equivalent of an Orthodox pope. There is, however, no Orthodox notion equivalent to the papacy: the Orthodox churches operate in the synodical system, whereby ecclesiastical matters are settled by the competent synod of bishops, in which each bishop has one vote. The five patriarchs of the ancient Pentarchy (Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, in that order) are to be given seniority of honour, but have no actual power over other bishops other than
7979-406: The other three patriarchates, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, gave it appellate jurisdiction extraterritorially over canon law decisions by the other patriarchs and granted it honours equal to those belonging to the first Christian see, Rome, in terms of primacy, Rome retaining however its seniority (canon xxviii). Leo I refused to accept this canon, basing himself on the fact that it was made in
8080-543: The outbreak of the Greek Revolution . In the 19th century, the rising tide of nationalism and secularism among the Balkan Christian nations led to the establishment of several autocephalous national churches, generally under autonomous patriarchs or archbishops, leaving the ecumenical patriarch only direct control over the ethnically Greek-originated Orthodox Christians of Turkey, parts of Greece and
8181-470: The patriarch is a validly consecrated bishop in Roman ecclesiology, and there is merely an imperfect ecclesial communion between Constantinople and Rome, which exists nevertheless and which may be improved at some point in history. The Ecumenical Patriarch bears the name: "(name), by the grace of God Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch" The (arch)bishopric of Constantinople has had
8282-547: The power of the synod they are chairing (and in which they also wield one vote). In 2007, the patriarch gave his approval to the Ravenna Document , a Catholic–Orthodox document re-asserting that the bishop of Rome is indeed the prōtos ("first") of the Church, as in "first among equals", although future discussions are to be held on the concrete ecclesiological exercise of papal primacy. According to Lumen Gentium ,
8383-590: The regions of Apulia and Calabria in Italy. In the framework of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages , Greek is protected and promoted officially as a regional and minority language in Armenia, Hungary , Romania, and Ukraine. It is recognized as a minority language and protected in Turkey by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne . The phonology , morphology , syntax , and vocabulary of
8484-576: The secular government of Turkey on the ecumenical patriarch, a religious office. The same policy also applied to the institution of the Islamic Caliphate, which was abolished by Turkey. For example, the ecumenical status accorded him traditionally within Eastern Orthodoxy, and recognized previously by the Ottoman governments, has on occasion been a source of controversy within the Republic of Turkey. This policy results in problems in
8585-437: The stressed vowel; the so-called breathing marks ( rough and smooth breathing ), originally used to signal presence or absence of word-initial /h/; and the diaeresis , used to mark the full syllabic value of a vowel that would otherwise be read as part of a diphthong. These marks were introduced during the course of the Hellenistic period. Actual usage of the grave in handwriting saw a rapid decline in favor of uniform usage of
8686-668: The style, which has been used occasionally for other prelates since the middle of the fifth century, is nowhere officially defined but, according to the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, the title has been criticized in the Catholic Church as incompatible with the claims of the Holy See . The monastic communities of Mount Athos are stauropegic and they are directly under the jurisdiction of
8787-575: The throne they rioted repeatedly, causing serious damage and loss of life. Religiously, Anastasius' sympathies were with the Monophysites. Consequently, as a condition of his rule, the patriarch of Constantinople required that he pledge not to repudiate the Council of Chalcedon . Ariadne married Anastasius on 20 May 491, shortly after his accession on 11 April. He gained popular favour by a judicious remission of taxation, in particular by abolishing
8888-574: Was a distinct dialect of Greek itself. Aside from the Macedonian question, current consensus regards Phrygian as the closest relative of Greek, since they share a number of phonological, morphological and lexical isoglosses , with some being exclusive between them. Scholars have proposed a Graeco-Phrygian subgroup out of which Greek and Phrygian originated. Among living languages, some Indo-Europeanists suggest that Greek may be most closely related to Armenian (see Graeco-Armenian ) or
8989-484: Was a great-nephew of Anastasius. His daughter Juliana later married Marcellus , a brother of Justin II . The extensive family may well have included several viable candidates for the throne. Following the death of Zeno (491), there is strong evidence that many Roman citizens wanted an emperor who was an Orthodox Christian and a Roman proper. In the weeks following Zeno's death, crowds gathered in Constantinople chanting "Give
9090-408: Was a particularly successful administrator in the department of finance. Anastasius is known to have had a brother named Paulus , who served as consul in 496. With a woman known as Magna, Paulus was father to Irene, who married Olybrius . This Olybrius was the son of Anicia Juliana and Areobindus Dagalaifus Areobindus . The daughter of Olybrius and Irene was named Proba. She married Probus and
9191-505: Was also used in Ancient Greek. Greek has occasionally been written in the Latin script , especially in areas under Venetian rule or by Greek Catholics . The term Frankolevantinika / Φραγκολεβαντίνικα applies when the Latin script is used to write Greek in the cultural ambit of Catholicism (because Frankos / Φράγκος is an older Greek term for West-European dating to when most of (Roman Catholic Christian) West Europe
9292-556: Was by far the most widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world . It eventually became the official language of the Byzantine Empire and developed into Medieval Greek . In its modern form , Greek is the official language of Greece and Cyprus and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union . It is spoken by at least 13.5 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey , and
9393-403: Was invited to assist in declaring the archbishop of the Church of Cyprus incompetent due to his having Alzheimer's disease . Additionally, in 2005, the Ecumenical Patriarchate convoked a pan-Orthodox synod to express the Orthodox world's confirmation of the deposition of Patriarch Irenaios of Jerusalem . In 2006, the patriarchate was invited to hear the appeal of a Russian Orthodox bishop in
9494-553: Was mother to a younger Juliana. This younger Juliana married another Anastasius, maternal grandson of Theodora , and was mother of Areobindus, Placidia, and a younger Proba, who married Flavius Anastasius, born in 530, and mothered Areobindus, born in 550, and Placidia, born in 552 and wife of John Mystacon . Another nephew of Anastasius was Flavius Probus , consul in 502. Anastasius' sister, Caesaria, married Secundinus , and gave birth to Hypatius and Pompeius . Flavius Anastasius Paulus Probus Moschianus Probus Magnus , consul in 518,
9595-470: Was possible in governmental transactions, he altered the method of payment from goods to hard currency. This practice decreased the potential for embezzlement and the need for transportation and storage of supplies. It also allowed for easier accounting. He also applied this practice to taxes, mandating that taxes be paid with cash rather than with goods. He eliminated the practice of providing soldiers with their arms and uniforms; instead he allotted each soldier
9696-485: Was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary . The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin , Cyrillic , Coptic , Gothic , and many other writing systems. The Greek language holds a very important place in the history of the Western world. Beginning with the epics of Homer , ancient Greek literature includes many works of lasting importance in
9797-479: Was revived by Anastasius in 498. The new system involved three denominations of gold, the solidus and its half ( semissis ) and third ( tremissis ); and five denominations of copper, the follis (worth 40 nummi ) and its fractions down to a nummus . It would seem that the new currency quickly became an important part of trade with other regions. A follis coin has been found in the Charjou desert, north of
9898-485: Was subject to the authority of the Ottoman Empire after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, until the declaration of Turkish Republic in 1923. Today, according to Turkish law, he is subject to the authority of the state of Turkey and is required to be a citizen of Turkey to be patriarch. The patriarch of Constantinople has been dubbed the ecumenical patriarch since the sixth century. The exact significance of
9999-580: Was under the control of the Frankish Empire ). Frankochiotika / Φραγκοχιώτικα (meaning 'Catholic Chiot') alludes to the significant presence of Catholic missionaries based on the island of Chios . Additionally, the term Greeklish is often used when the Greek language is written in a Latin script in online communications. The Latin script is nowadays used by the Greek-speaking communities of Southern Italy . The Yevanic dialect
10100-637: Was used for literary and official purposes in the newly formed Greek state. In 1976, Dimotiki was declared the official language of Greece, after having incorporated features of Katharevousa and thus giving birth to Standard Modern Greek , used today for all official purposes and in education . The historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language are often emphasized. Although Greek has undergone morphological and phonological changes comparable to those seen in other languages, never since classical antiquity has its cultural, literary, and orthographic tradition been interrupted to
10201-673: Was written by Romaniote and Constantinopolitan Karaite Jews using the Hebrew Alphabet . In a tradition, that in modern time, has come to be known as Greek Aljamiado , some Greek Muslims from Crete wrote their Cretan Greek in the Arabic alphabet . The same happened among Epirote Muslims in Ioannina . This also happened among Arabic-speaking Byzantine rite Christians in the Levant ( Lebanon , Palestine, and Syria ). This usage
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