Ethnic Groups of the Roman Empire (Principia Moderni III Map Game)

As it has in the past, the Roman Empire is comprised of a wide variety of different ethnic groups that span its borders. While each one is distinct and different from each other, most see themselves as part of the Roman whole, and it is the government's belief that each one plays, or has the potential to play, a crucial role in Roman society.

Greeks
The Greeks, also known as Hellenes, are a Hellenic Indo-European ethnic group that are the central figure of the Empire and its various institutions, and without them the Empire would have fallen ages ago. Greeks form the majority in the armed forces, government, the clergy, scholars, and most other aspects of Roman society.

Greeks are the glue that keep the Empire together, and they see themselves as the saviors of the Empire and its chief heralds, both of which are realistic claims. Greek culture influences all the others to some degree, and the Greek languages are the lingua franca of the Empire's inhabitants.

Ethnic Greeks in Europe can be found across Greece and Anatolia along with the island of Cyprus. Greeks also inhabit lands in Borealia as well.

Latins
The Latins are a branch of the Italic branch, which itself deviates off of the Indo-European group. Latins are descended from ethnic Italians and Frenchmen who arrived in Greece during the Forth Crusade and the Latinokratia that followed. Latins form a significant portion of the Empire's merchants and military officers, seeing few other careers for them to excel in.

While having been a thorn in the Empire's fortunes in the past, indeed, nearly its end, the Latins have now become quite integrated in Roman society and also see themselves as Roman. Latins speak the language Latin, as it was the only common language between the original French and Italian progenitors. Some families still speak French or Italian, although this is declining.

Ethnic Latins can be found mainly in Achaea in Greece, as well as the cities of Constantinople and Reme.

Goths
Goths are a Germanic ethnic group, which also means they are Indo-Europeans. Also known as Crimean Goths or Tauricans, they entered the Empire's dominions in the first half of the 15th century and have also become a crucial part of the Empire.

The Goths first arrived in Taurica during the first Roman Dark Age and the Gothic migration. Since then, they have played a small role in Roman society until their full inclusion into the Empire more than a thousand years later.

Since then, the Goths form the majority of elite regiments in the Roman Army, and also form a sizable portion of the officer corps along with Latins and Greeks. Other than a military profession, Goths also farm.