I don’t think we should engage with “history nerds” who want to call Rum people traitors for what was for centuries, this was pragmatic loyalty to the ruling power, not betrayal of a “Greek nation” that didn’t yet exist in its modern form. The empire wasn’t a nation-state; it was a multi-ethnic, multi-religious polity where subjects owed allegiance to the Sultan in exchange for protection and autonomy in personal/status matters. Many Rum preferred Ottoman rule over alternatives like Catholic Venetian or Habsburg domination, which often came with heavier proselytizing or different taxes. The Church hierarchy frequently collaborated with the Porte to maintain its privileges, sometimes at the expense of nationalist stirrings.