The Byzantines or East Romans were the Byzantine Empire's main inhabitants. They understood their identity as Roman, within a predominantly Greek-speaking and Christian context. From the 6th century CE onward, they were increasingly associated in Western sources with a Greek identity and with what is now known as the Eastern Orthodox denomination. Following the decline of the empire and the fall of Constantinople, most Byzantines came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, where they were organised within the Rum millet.