The
Jireček Line is an imaginary line through the ancient
BalkansThe Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
that divided the influences of the
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
(in the north) and
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
(in the south) languages until the 4th century. It goes from near the city of
LaçLaç or also Laçi is a city in northwestern Albania. It is the administrative center of the Kurbin District, which is part of Lezhë County. The official population is 23,400, however, the accuracy of official population statistics is questionable....
i in modern
AlbaniaAlbania , officially the Republic of Albania , is a Mediterranean country in South Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the north, Kosovo to the northeast, Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south-east...
to Serdica (now
SofiaSofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city by population in the European Union, with 1.4 million people living in the Capital Municipality...
, in
BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north , Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south...
) and then follows the
Balkan MountainsThe Balkan mountain range is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan range runs 560 km from the Vrashka Chuka Peak on the border between Bulgaria and eastern Serbia eastward through central Bulgaria to Cape Emine on the Black Sea. The highest peaks of the Stara...
to Odessus (
VarnaVarna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and in Northern Bulgaria, third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, and 77th-largest in the European Union, with a population of 355,450 .Commonly referred to as the marine capital of Bulgaria, Varna is a...
) on the
Black Seaur a loser!The Black Sea is an inland sea bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and various straits. The Bosporus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects it to...
.
The placing of the line is based on archaeological findings: most of the inscriptions found to the north of it were written in Latin, while most of the inscriptions found to the south were in Greek.
This line is important in establishing the place where the
RomanianThe Romanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian ; they are the majority inhabitants of România.In one prominent interpretation of the census results in Moldova, Moldovans are counted as Romanians, which would...
and
AromanianAromanians are a people living throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Romania...
people were formed (see Origin of Romanians), since it is considered unlikely that a Latin-speaking people formed to the south of it.
It was originally used by the Czech historian Konstantin Jireček in 1911 in a history of the Slavic people.
More recent scholars have revised it somewhat: Kaimio (1979) places
DalmatiaDalmatia , is a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and is situated in modern Croatia. It spreads between the island of Rab in the northwest and the Bay of Kotor, in Montenegro, in the southeast...
and Moesia Superior in the Latin area and Moesia Inferior in the Greek sphere.
Discussion
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The
Jireček Line is an imaginary line through the ancient
BalkansThe Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
that divided the influences of the
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
(in the north) and
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
(in the south) languages until the 4th century. It goes from near the city of
LaçLaç or also Laçi is a city in northwestern Albania. It is the administrative center of the Kurbin District, which is part of Lezhë County. The official population is 23,400, however, the accuracy of official population statistics is questionable....
i in modern
AlbaniaAlbania , officially the Republic of Albania , is a Mediterranean country in South Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the north, Kosovo to the northeast, Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south-east...
to Serdica (now
SofiaSofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city by population in the European Union, with 1.4 million people living in the Capital Municipality...
, in
BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north , Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south...
) and then follows the
Balkan MountainsThe Balkan mountain range is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan range runs 560 km from the Vrashka Chuka Peak on the border between Bulgaria and eastern Serbia eastward through central Bulgaria to Cape Emine on the Black Sea. The highest peaks of the Stara...
to Odessus (
VarnaVarna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and in Northern Bulgaria, third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, and 77th-largest in the European Union, with a population of 355,450 .Commonly referred to as the marine capital of Bulgaria, Varna is a...
) on the
Black Seaur a loser!The Black Sea is an inland sea bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and various straits. The Bosporus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects it to...
.
The placing of the line is based on archaeological findings: most of the inscriptions found to the north of it were written in Latin, while most of the inscriptions found to the south were in Greek.
This line is important in establishing the place where the
RomanianThe Romanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian ; they are the majority inhabitants of România.In one prominent interpretation of the census results in Moldova, Moldovans are counted as Romanians, which would...
and
AromanianAromanians are a people living throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Romania...
people were formed (see Origin of Romanians), since it is considered unlikely that a Latin-speaking people formed to the south of it.
It was originally used by the Czech historian Konstantin Jireček in 1911 in a history of the Slavic people.
More recent scholars have revised it somewhat: Kaimio (1979) places
DalmatiaDalmatia , is a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and is situated in modern Croatia. It spreads between the island of Rab in the northwest and the Bay of Kotor, in Montenegro, in the southeast...
and Moesia Superior in 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 [made] common sense ad hoc decisions". He also points out that "even in Greek areas... Latin was the dominant language in inscriptions recording public works, on milestones, and in the army."