u/Chazut

It seems clear to me Vlachs, Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Romanians etc. almost always referred themselves as Romans, but were called Vlachs most of the time even by the Byzantines.

But are there examples of Byzantines recognizing the Latinity and/or Roman identity of these pastoralists?

Also do we know exactly how the exonym "Vlach" even survived as a term for these people? It derives likely from East Germanic/Gothic, but why is it so sticky if it was never used by Romanians themselves?