Third Rome

Calque of Russian Тре́тий Рим (Trétij Rim).

Third Rome

1. (history, politics, theology) A political concept of Moscow as the successor of the Byzantine Empire and the Roman Empire, later extended to Russia in nationalist discourse.

In this context, the "first Rome" was the Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire. The "second Rome" was the Byzantine Empire, which influenced Kyivan Rus and the Grand Principality of Moscow. With the collapse of the Byzantine Empire to Ottoman conquest, the Grand Principality of Moscow declared itself as a successor state of the Byzantine Empire, becoming the "third Rome".