Erroneous Claim: "Greek was the lingua franca before Alexander the Great's era, like English is today" The above  is a widely-used false claim promoted mainly by FYROM's propaganda. The status of lingua franca, especially during the Achaemenid period (539-333) through the vast Persian empire[1] and the Mediteranean world had the Aramaic language. [2] Greek was not the lingua franca during ...