The Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans and also as Romania (Ῥωμανία, Rhōmanía), was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct succession to the ancient Roman Emperors. The Empire preserved Romano-Hellenistic traditions, but due to the increasing predominance of the Greek language, it became known to most of its western and northern contemporaries usually as the Empire of the Greeks.In the Islamic world it was known primarily as the term "Byzantine Empire" was popularized by historians during the 16th – 19th centuries.