Lessons of Greek History: Ancient Virtues of Courage, Patriotism and Freedom Matter Now More Than Ever Before

The Eastern Roman Empire included most of the territory of the empire of Alexander the Great. It lasted for more than a millennium. 

From Rome to Greece

In the sixth century, Greek became the official language of this Eurasian empire. Whatever Greek treasures survived the violence of the Christianization of Europe in the fourth century, one could find them in medieval Greece. However, the power, wealth and influence of this Greek state made it a bone of contention. The Turks, the Slavs, and Western Europeans wanted what it had.

Greek Fire, a major weapon the Greeks used against  their enemies for centuries. From late 11th century ms. of John Skylitzes, National Library, Madrid, Spain. Courtesy Wikipedia.

In the seventh century, the Arabs took over Egypt and Syria. However the wars between Greeks and Arabs lasted for a long time. 

Battle of Lalakaon, 863. Defeat of Amer, Emir of Malatya. Late 11th century. Chronicle of John Skylitzes. National Library, Madrid, Spain. Courtesy Wikipedia.

The Turks conquered most of Asia Minor in late eleventh century. In 1204, Western Christian Crusaders dismembered medieval Greece. In fact, Venetians appointed their own emperor in Constantinople, the capital of the empire.

In 1261, Greeks reconquered Constantinople and reconstituted a much smaller empire. But even this small Greece had  numerous enemies. 

Enemies

Serbia threatened it from the north; the Turks kept attacking it from all fronts; and Venice and Genoa from the West. Indeed, these two powerful Western states almost owned the bankrupt empire. They collected more taxes than the Greek state. They fought wars with each other over dominance in Greece and the Mediterranean.

Stephen Dushan of Serbia

In mid-fourteenth century, these troubles nearly drowned Greece. The Serbian strongman, Stephen Dushan, called himself Emperor of the Serbs and the Greeks. He played Greek leaders against each other, funding some, attacking others. He benefited from the Greek civil wars. He kept invading and capturing Greek cities. He controlled Albania, Macedonia without Thessalonike, Epirus, Thessaly and Central Greece. He wanted to be the lord of the entire Greek empire. He spoke Greek and employed Greeks in his administration.

Genoa and Venice

Meanwhile, Genoese nearly captured Constantinople. The Greeks had no fleet to speak of and practically no money. Most young men became monks and the emperor, John Kantakouzenos, 1347-1354, resorted to hiring Turkish mercenaries for the defense of his tottering state.

As if this humiliating reality was not enough, black death struck Constantinople, decimating its population. And to top it all, Hesychasm sparked a religious crisis resembling iconoclasm, the breaking and restoring of the icons for almost 150 years in the eighth and ninth centuries.

The Silence of the Monks

Monks in Mount Athos gave birth to Hesychasm, which means living in silence. Why silence? Those who practiced it said silence was necessary to contemplate the “uncreated light” of Jesus’ transfiguration on Mount Tabor. They had a method for this silence: coordinating their breathing with bending their chins towards their chests, keep looking at their navels, and ceaselessly saying: “Lord Jesus Christ, son of god, have mercy on me.”

Not everybody thought this new monastic invention made sense. For example, the most important astronomer and historian of mid-fourteenth century, Nikephoros Gregoras, denounced Hesychasm as superstition. With the emperor’s support, the church anathematized Gregoras and canonized Gregory Palamas, the head of the silence movement. Not only that, but once Gregoras died in 1359, followers of Hesychasm dug up his body, dragging it all over Constantinople. This barbarism was another indicator the Greeks were on the verge of political extinction.

Lamentable Weakness

Indeed, a century later, both Turks and Europeans brought the Greek tragedy to an end. On May 29, 1453, the Turks using European canons smashed their way through the walls of Constantinople. Like the Romans in 146 BCE, they occupied Greece. 

Emperor Kantakouzenos had warned the Greeks that their “lamentable weakness” would inexorably bring despair and “contemptible idleness” and, most likely, servitude. “There’s no middle way,” he told them. Either they returned to their ancient virtues of courage or their freedom and independence were doomed. Servitude was at the gates. “Act,” he urged them, “on the interest of your glory, security, liberty and your lives.” 

The Greeks did not. They paid a very heavy price for their civil wars, religious anathemas, and countless monasteries. They, the monasteries, not the state, recruited the young. The result? Greece suffered 368 years of abject humiliation and slavery.

Modern Greeks

However, have the Greeks of our age learned these history lessons?

Despite appearances, Greece is not that much different in 2018 than it was in mid-fourteenth century. It is still surrounded by enemies. 

The Turkish Danger

Turkey has lost none of its Islamic fervor. It is looking at Greece as a territory it must reconquer. Greek Thrace is already moving in the direction of joining Turkey. Greek authorities in Thrace are almost non-existent. Turkish agents and Moslem men are running the place. 

Turkish warplanes violate Greek airspace in the Aegean almost daily. America, the new lord in the Mediterranean, has no problem with such provocative Turkish policy. Turkey, after all, has a huge army. Turkey borders Russia and Turkey is a member of America’s military alliance, NATO. 

America’s respect for Turkey means contempt for Greece. This secret attitude became public in 1974 when it allowed Turkey to grab 40 percent of the Greek island of Cyprus.

Slavs Are Stealing Greek Culture

The second foreign enemy of Greece is a Slavic state with the imperial ambition of Stephen Dushan of medieval Serbia. This is a small country made up with Albanians and Bulgarians. Dushan wanted to be the emperor of Greece. The former province of Yugoslavia wants to be the Macedonia of Alexander the Great. This is a huge empire that includes Greece. This Slavic “Macedonia” is openly stealing Greek culture, pretending it is related to ancient Greek Macedonia. 

Of course, this is a fraudulent claim. The Slavs appeared in Europe around the sixth century, that is, a millennium after Alexander the Great. The Skopje state has nothing to do with Macedonia or Alexander the Great. 

On May 18, 2009, some 200 classical scholars wrote to President Barack Obama to withdraw the illegitimate recognition his predecessor, George W. Bush, granted to the Skopje regime in 2004. That way, they said, the US could stop “a dangerous epidemic of historical revisionism.” Only the Macedonians living in Greece are Macedonians. 

Obama did nothing and the propaganda of Skopje triumphed. Even Greece, in 2018, recognized Skopje as “Northern Macedonia.” Most countries recognize Skopje as “Macedonia.” 

  The indifference of the United States and the world for historical accuracy is a sign of cowardliness and cultural decline. Why the Greek government is not interested for the integrity of its own culture, and, especially, Macedonia, mirrors a much larger malady. In 2018, Greece is being forced to embrace “contemptible idleness” that, like Emperor Kantakouzenos said more than five centuries ago, leads to “servitude.” 

Old Wine in New Bottles

Instead of Venice and Genoa fighting over the Greek carcass from austerity and begging, we now have a formidable European Union and the United States deciding in secret scribbled texts how long it would take to incapacitate the Greeks so that their beautiful country can formally be divided up for villas and hotels for foreigners.

Once again, the Greeks are called to make a choice. Either they put their house in order and return to the virtues of courage and patriotism of their ancient ancestors or servitude is at the gates.

Image from the legacy of the Greco-Persian wars, 500-479 BCE: Persian soldier (left) is fighting a Greek soldier (right). Kylix, 5th century BCE. Courtesy National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece.

Just a Greek Party

Simply put, the Greeks of 2018 must abolish their political parties, forming only one Hellenic party about what’s best for their country. Such a Hellenic party should have a platform of political and economic independence from all foreign interests. This does not mean xenophobia but putting the Greeks and their livelihoods first in their country. Second, defending the integrity of the country should be at the core of Greek government and society.

A Panhellenic government should then be able to negotiate with the EU-IMF (International Monetary Fund, America’s tool of foreign policy) to either forgive the remaining loans or declare those loans illegal under international and Greek law. 

If it becomes necessary to exit the hitherto hostile EU, do so. Greeks have always worked hard. They can make it, if need be, on their own. 

Self-reliance is an ancient Greek virtue.