What civilization called itself the third rome?

Answer 1

The term Third Rome describes the idea that some city, state, or country is the successor to the legacy of ancient Rome (the first Rome) either though connection to the Byzantine Empire (the second Rome) or through a connection to the Western Roman Empire via its self-proclaimed successors such as the Papal States or the Holy Roman Empire which were the second Rome.

Bulgaria. This is where the notion of the Third Rome started. Tsar Ivan Alexander used the tem Third Rome and Second Constantinople to increase the prestige of his Bulgarian Empire in the 14th century.

Russia. The idea of the Third Rome was taken to Russia by monks who fled Bulgaria after it was taken by the Turks. Some orthodox Christians then nominated Moscow as the third Rome .This notion was bolstered when Ivan III married the niece of the last Byzantine emperor. The claim was also based on the Russian having the same religion as the Byzantines.

The Ottoman Turks. The sultan Mehmed who conquered Constantinople (the capital of the Byzantine Empire) declared himself the Caesar of Rome. The claim was not recognised by the Orthodox Christian patriarch of Constantinople. Mahmed’s predecessor, sultan Ohran I had married a Byzantine princess and Mehmed claimed descant from a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century. Later, after Suleiman the Magnificent defeated the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (in 1544), he had a treaty signed which addressed the latter with the plain title "King of Spain" rather than Roman Emperor, leading Suleiman to consider himself the true successor to Caesar.

The Austrians. The Austrian Empire claimed to be the heir of the Holy Roman Empire and a Third Rome when its rulers, the Hapsburg tried to unite, Germany under their rule.

The Germans. In 1871 the German Empire claimed to be the Third Rome though lineage of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Italians. Giuseppe Mazzini, the philosopher of the Italian Risorgimento and the unification of Italy said "after the Rome of the emperors, after the Rome of the Popes, there will come the Rome of the [Italian] people." He also said that Italy as a third Rome should have imperialist ambitions and should colonise Tunisia. Some politicians referred to the Kingdom of Italy as the Third Rome. Later, Mussolini spoke of fascist Italy as a Third Rome.