ABSTRACT
The word was not used in the Middle Ages. The simple reason for this is that the word "EAAqv itself had changed its meaning. When the Christian Church had to deal with non-Christians during the first centuries, if it therefore, as we would say today, had to fight against heathens, it had to confront two groups within the Roman Empire: Jews and devotees of the old gods, ‘Gods of the Hellenes’ as they were called by all. In this sense "EAAqv no longer meant the inhabitants of the Greek or Hellenized territories of the Mediterranean, defined by language, culture and history, but the stubborn and old-fashioned worshippers of the pagan gods. When referring to themselves, the people of the East Roman Empire - no matter whether they were speaking Greek or something else as their native language - used the word ‘PcojjaToi.
