Yeah, and just think — in 1492 there easily would have been people alive who had lived in Constantinople before it fell and who would’ve thought of themselves as Romans, or at least who had lived part of their lives as Romans. It’s poignant to think them hearing for the first time of the new world that had been discovered and named America.
Well they were Roman... descended from the Empire, they really were the real deal.. unlike the so called holy roman empire which was really kinda .. meh