Jireček Line

The language border between Latin- and Greek-influenced regions of the Roman Empire according to various linguists The Jireček Line is a conceptual boundary through the ancient Balkans that divides the influence of the Latin (in the north) and Greek (in the south) languages in the Roman Empire from antiquity to the 4th century. The border has been corrected repeatedly by the discovery of new inscriptions. A possible rough outline of it goes from near Lissus (near Lezhë and Laç in modern Albania) to Serdica (now Sofia, in Bulgaria) and then follows the Balkan Mountains to Odessus (Varna) on the Black Sea or continuing along the coastline northwards to the Danube Delta.

History