June 16, 2020

The Inheritance of the Tsars: Russia's Claim to Rome


The Inheritance of the Tsars: Russia's Claim to Rome
Like Rome, but with fewer columns. Diego Delso, Wikimedia Commons

Stick around Russia - and Russians - long enough, and you’ll probably come across the assertion that Moscow is the “Third Rome.” This idea isn’t only present among laypeople, either: some of Russia’s best and brightest, like Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, have been known to peddle it. But where does the idea come from, and what does (and did) it mean?

To understand why Moscow is the “Third Rome,” we have to go back to the First Rome: that city of toga-and-sandal-wearing, pilum-toting fame. In 285 AD, Emperor Diocletian split the massive Roman Empire into two halves, Eastern and Western. (He later retired and became an avid cabbage farmer. I’m not kidding.) The Western half centered on the city of Rome; the Eastern, on Constantinople.

Then, in 476, Rome and the Western Empire collapsed after a long and torturous decline. However, its Eastern counterpart, which became the Byzantine Empire, hung around (but rarely flourished) for another millennium, becoming a stronghold of international trade, scholarship, art, and Eastern Orthodoxy (in contrast to Western Catholicism). During this period, the land that is now Russia fell under the “Byzantine Commonwealth,” the wide regions of Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean within the Byzantine sphere of cultural, political, and religious influence.

The Church of Hagia Irene
The Church of Hagia Irene, Constantinople
highlights common architectural styles that
carried over into Russian constructions.

Russia can trace a few specific instances of Byzantine influence to this period. One ruler of Kievan Rus, Vladimir Monomakh, was a direct descendant of Byzantine royalty. Further, Russian religion (Eastern Orthodoxy) was a direct outgrowth of Byzantine influence. Hence the landmark Sophia churches in Kiev and Novgorod, which mirror the large one in Constantinople, the Hagia Sophia. Even today, Russian churches mimic Greek Orthodox churches, complete with domes, mosaics, and icons.

The Byzantine Empire, under Emperor Constantine XI of the Paleologos family, fell after a long decline in 1453 to the Ottoman Turks. However, the Paleologoi lived on in Princess Sophia, Constantine’s niece, who married the Muscovite Tsar Ivan III in 1472. Ivan subsequently felt free to adopt the Byzantine double-headed eagle as Moscow’s new insignia.

Russia's seal, with the double-headed eagle
The coat of arms of the Russian Empire, a variant of Muscovy's, featuring the Byzantine double-headed eagle. | Wikimedia Commons

One Russian monk summed it up concisely: “two Romes have fallen, the third stands, and there will be no fourth.”

While the Russian royal family’s claim to the throne died out in Time of Troubles dynastic crisis of the early 1600s, the idea that Russia (the state into which Muscovy eventually grew) was destined to be a great power, the inheritor of the civic ideals of Rome and the pious blessings of Byzantium, stuck around, resurfacing in the late nineteenth century.

If anything, the idea that Moscow is the Third Rome has seen a resurgence with the fall of the USSR. A renaissance – and growing encouragement – of national pride since 2000 has meant greater currency of the idea in Russia, even as most serious historians disagree with it. After all, while “The Third Rome” has a nice ring to it, in real terms, both modern and historical, it means practically nothing.

That said, perhaps Russia at least has a better claim to the title than the Holy Roman Empire, which was, in the opinion of Voltaire, “neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.”
 

You Might Also Like

Come to Moscow, Brother ...
  • August 01, 1997

Come to Moscow, Brother ...

All Moscow is preparing for September's big 850th anniversary bash. In honor of the upcoming celebration, we offer a look at the history and spirit of Europe's largest city. Includes great timeline of Moscow history.
The Italians Who Built the Third Rome
  • November 01, 2015

The Italians Who Built the Third Rome

It may have been built by Russian laborers, but the Kremlin and its churches has Italian architects to thank for its Third Rome design ethos. This is their story.
Orthodox-Catholic Summit
  • February 14, 2016

Orthodox-Catholic Summit

This week, Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill met in Havana. Why was this such a big deal?
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955