Greek refugees the spread of the Hellenistic civilization in the 3rd century BC, Greek became the lingua franca of Asia Minor, and by the fifth century AD, when the last of the Indo-European native languages of Anatolia ceased to be spoken, Greek became the sole spoken language of the natives of Asia Minor. After the founding of Constantinople by the first Christian Roman Emperor Constantine the Great in 330, Asia Minor, the major part of the Greek East, became the most important region of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. For the centuries to follow, the area was the main manpower and wheat
Ancient Greek art of ancient Greece was painted colourfully. This aspect of Greek stonework is described as polychrome (from Greek "πολυχρωμία", "πολύ" = many and "χρώμα" = colour). Due to intensive weathering, polychromy on sculpture and architecture has substantially or totally faded in most cases. Although the word "polychrome" is created from the combining of two Greek words, it was not used in ancient Greece. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century by Antoine Chrysostôme Quatremère de Quincy. Painting was also used to enhance the visual aspects of architecture. Certain parts of the superstructure of Greek temples were habitually painted since